jj: 


. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

S.  Quay  Smith 


5WF 


.  C 

NOT  TO  BE  TAKEM  FOM  THE  ROC 


.         «         4 


"EnrOTT   KmVAONE,  E 

BISHOP  OF  jmPm'ESTWTfflSCOPAL 


THE 


EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY; 


IN     T  H  EIK 


EXTERNAL,  OR  HISTORICAL  DIVISION: 


EXHIBITED    IN    A 

COURSE    OF    LECTURES, 

BY 

CHARLES   PETTIT  M'lLYAINE,  D.D., 

BISHOP    OF    THE    PROTESTANT     EPISCOPAL    CHURCH    IN    TUB    BTATH   OP    3  HIO. 
Sint  caste  deliciae  meoe  scrlptura  tuae;  nee  fulinr  in  eis,  nee  tellani  ex  eis.— AUOUSTIHB. 

TWENTY- SEVENTH   THOUSAND. 

REVISED  AND  1MPKOVKI)  BY   TUB  AUTHOR,  WITH  THE  ADDITION 
OF  A  PREFACE, 

BY  OLINTHTJS  GREGORY,  D.D.,    LL.D. 


SMITH,   ENGLISH.&  CO., 

40    NORTH    SIXTH    ST. 
1861. 


Entered  by  the  author,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  yeu  lt»2,  in  tne 
office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
D.sthct  of  New  York. 


COLLINS.   PRINTER 


//o/ 


PKEFACE  TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION. 

BY  OLINTHUS  GREGORY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

THE  English  friends  of  the  author  of  these  Lectures  on 
the  Evidences  of  Christianity  are  unanimous  in  deciding  that 
they  will  constitute  a  valuable  addition  to  our  sacred  litera- 
ture. On  a  subject  which  has  been  repeatedly  treated,  and 
often  by  men  of  distinguished  talent  and  learning,  much  that 
is  essentially  new  is  not  to  be  expected.  Yet  the  specific 
purpose  for  which  a  work  of  this  kind  is  undertaken  may 
cause  the  main  arguments  to  be  placed  in  such  a  position, 
while  some  of  the  subordinate  topics  may  be  exhibited  in  so 
strong  a  light,  as  to  give  to  the  whole  an  air  of  light  and  fresh- 
ness well  fitted  to  convey  high  gratification  in  union  with 
rich  instruction.  Several,  indeed,  of  the  trains  of  reason- 
ing pursued  by  the  author  seem  to  be  entirely  original  ;  at 
the  same  time  that  they  are  conducted  with  considerable 
skill,  and  by  their  accumulative  property,  lead  to  an  ultimate 
issue  that  must  make  a  deep  and  salutary  impression  on  the 
mind  of  any  candid  investigator  of  this  ever  momentous 
subject.  It  may,  farther,  be  added,  that  the  Christian  feel- 
ing, benevolence,  and  warmth  with  which  the  author  con- 
ducts his  inquiry,  in  its  several  stages,  honourably  distin- 
guish this  work  from  many  of  its  predecessors  ;  while  they 
show  that,  instead  of  regarding  Christian  truth  as  supplying 
matter  for  a  pleasing  speculation,  he  considers  it  as  that 
which  alone  can  make  men  truly  holy,  happy,  honourable, 
and  useful,  and  transform  the  world  from  an  Aceldama  to 
the  Paradise  of  God. 

May  1st,  1833. 

938742 


PREFACE. 


THE  history  of  the  following  lectures  may  be  given  in  few  words.  In  the 
autumn  of  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-one,  when  the  University  of  the  City 
of  New  York  had  not  yet  organized  its  classes,  nor  appointed  its  instructers, 
it  was  represented  to  the  Council,  that  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  Evidences 
of  Christianity  was  exceedingly  needed,  and  would  probably  be  well  attended 
by  young  men  of  intelligence  and  education.  On  the  strength  of  such  repre- 
sentation, the  author  of  this  volume  was  requested,  by  the  Chancellor  of  the 
University,  to  undertake  the  work  desired ;  not,  he  is  well  aware,  on  account 
of  any  special  qualifications  for  a  task  which  many  others  in  the  city  would 
have  executed  much  more  satisfactorily ;  but  because,  having  lectured  on  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  while  connected  with  die  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  he  was  supposed  to  be  in  a  great  measure  prepared  at  this  time 
for  a  similar  effort.  It  was  under  a  considerable  misunderstanding  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  proposed  engagement  would  be  expected  to  go,  that  the 
author  expressed  a  hesitating  willingness  to  assume  its  responsibility.  The 
next  thing  was  the  honour  of  an  appointment,  by  the  Council  of  the  University, 
to  the  office  of  "  Lecturer  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,"  Alarmed  at  the 
prospect  of  so  much  additional  work,  but  desirous  of  serving  a  rising  and 
most  hopeful  institution,  as  well  as  of  advocating  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;  he  consented  to  the  appointment,  with  the  expectation  of  finding,  in 
the  manuscripts  of  the  former  course,  enough  preparation  already  made  to 
prevent  any  considerable  increase  to  his  accumulated  engagements.  What 
was  his  disappointment,  on  inspecting  those  compositions,  to  find  himself  so 
little  satisfied  with  their  plan  and  whole  execution,  that  instead  of  attempting 
to  mend  their  infirmities  and  supply  their  deficiencies,  it  seemed  much  better 
to  lay  them  all  aside  in  their  wonted  retirement,  and  begin  anew  both  in  study 
and  writing!  Thus,  in  the  midst  of  exhausting  duties,  as  a  parish  minister,* 
and  in  a  state  of  health  by  no  means  well  established,  he  was  unexpectedly 
committed  to  an  amount  of  labour  which,  had  it  been  all  foreseen,  he  would 
not  have  dared  to  undertake.  Mean  while,  a  class  of  many  hundreds,  from 
among  the  most  intelligent  in  the  community,  and  composed,  to  a  considerable 


•  The  author  was  at  that  time  Rector  of  St.  Ann's  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

* 


11  PREFACE. 

extent,  of  members  of  the  "  New  York  Young  Men's  Society  for  Intellectual 
and  Moral  Improvement,"  had  been  formed,  and  was  waiting  the  commence- 
ment of  the  course.  A  more  interesting,  important,  or  attentive  assemblage 
of  mind  and  character,  no  one  need  wish  to  address.  The  burden  of  prepara- 
tion was  delightfully  compensated  by  the  pleasure  of  speaking  to  such  an 
audience.  The  lecturer  could  not  but  feel  an  engrossing  impression  of  the 
privilege,  as  well  as  responsibility  ef  such  an  opportunity  of  usefulness. 
He  would  thankfully  acknowledge  the  kindness  of  divine  Providence,  in  his 
having  been  permitted  and  persuaded  to  embrace  it,  and  for  a  measure  of 
health,  in  the  prosecution  of  its  duties,  far  beyond  what  he  had  reason  to 
expect  His  debt  of  gratitude  is  inexpressibly  increased  by  the  cheering 
information,  that  much  spiritual  benefit  was  derived  from  the  lectures  by 
some  whose  minds,  at  the  outset  of  the  course,  were  far  from  the  belief  of  the 
blessed  gospel,  as  a  revelation  from  God. 

The  idea  of  publication  did  not  originate  with  the  author.  He  began  the 
work  with  no  such  view.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  favourable  opinion  of  the 
Council  of  the  University,  as  to  the  probable  usefulness  of  the  step,  and 
the  urgent  advice  of  distinguished  individuals  of  that  body;  he  would  have 
shrunk  from  contributing  another  volume  to  a  department  of  divinity,  already 
so  well  supplied  by  authors  of  the  highest  grade  of  learning  and  intellect 
After  the  recent  lectures  of  Daniel  Wilson,  D.  D.,  the  present  excellent  bishop 
of  Calcutta,  not  to  speak  of  many  other  and  earlier  works  in  the  same  field, 
it  will  not  seem  surprising  to  the  present  author  if  some  should  think  it  quite 
presumptuous,  at  least  unnecessary,  fora  writer  of  such  inferior  qualifications. 
in  every  sense,  to  offer  an  additional  publication.  But  all  have  not  read,  nor 
may  all  be  expected  to  read  the  books  which  have  already  been  issued. 
Nothing  can  be  more  conclusive;  and  yet,  to  multitudes  of  readers,  they  must 
remain  as  if  they  were  not.  A  work  of  inferior  claims  may  find  readers,  and 
do  much  good,  in  consequence  of  local  circumstances  drawing  attention  to  its 
pages,  where  all  others  would  be  overlooked.  Vessels  of  moderate  draught 
may  go  up  the  tributary  streams  of  public  thought,  and  may  deal  advantage- 
ously with  the  minds  of  men,  where  others  of  heavier  tonnage  could  never 
reach.  Should  such  be  an  advantage  of  this  unpretending  publication,  its 
apparent  presumption  may  be  pardoned,  and  its  author  will,  by  no  means, 
have  laboured  in  vain.  That  many  faults  will  be  found  in  it,  he  cannot  but 
anticipate.  That  any  have  arisen  from  haste,  carelessness,  or  want  of  pains, 
he  will  not  dishonour  his  sense  of  duty,  however  he  might  excuse  his  under- 
standing, by  the  plea.  He  can  only  say  that  he  has  tried  to  do  well,  and  to  do 
good.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  any  qualified  critic,  he  has  succeeded,  he  desires 
to  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  thankfulness  to  God,  not  of  praise  to  himself,  it 
he  has  failed,  let  the  infirmities  of  the  lecturer,  not  the  merits  of  the  subject, 
receive  the  blame. 

That  many  books  have  been  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume, 
and  that  the  author  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  more  learned  labours  of  numerous 
predecessors,  he  need  not  acknowledge.  It  seems  unnecessary  to  mention 


PREFACE. 


Ill 


more  particularly  than  is  done  in  the  margin,  the  various  works  from  which 
assistance  or  authority  has  been  derived.  Wherever  quotations  occur  they 
are  marked,  and  almost  always  credited  to  their  respective  authors.  The 
elaborate  work  of  Lardner  on  the  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  and  the 
books  of  Josephus,  being  more  frequently  cited  than  any  other ;  it  may  be 
well  to  mention  that  the  edition  of  Josephus,  referred  to  in  the  marginal  notes, 
is  that  of  Whiston's  translation,  in  one  volume  octavo,  London,  1828;  and 
the  quotations  from  Lardner  are  out  of  the  quarto  edition  of  his  works,  in  five 
volumes,  London,  1815. 

And  now,  without  further  preface,  let  this  humble  attempt  to  promote  the 
saving  truth  of  Jesus  Christ  be  committed  to  Him  whose  blessing  alone  can 
honour  it.  Should  it  receive  but  little  favour  from  man,  and  yet  be  made,  in 
the  Lord's  hand,  the  instrument  of  leading  some  misguided  soul  from  the 
darkness  and  barrenness  of  infidelity  to  the  precious  light  and  hope  of  the 
gospel,  its  name  will  then  be  written  in  heaven,  and  its  unworthy  author  will 
have  a  rich  reward.  C.  P.  M. 

PREFACE  TO  THE  SIXTH  EDITION. 


So  many,  and  such  remarkable  instances  of  a  divine  blesswig  having 
been  graciously  vouchsafed  in  the  reading  of  this  book,  have  come  to  the 
author's  knowledge,  that  he  cannot  but  regard  it  as  a  duty  to  see  that  it 
be  no  longer  allowed  to  remain  out  of  print,  as  it  has  been  for  some  time 
past.  It  would  make  a  very  interesting  little  book  were  it  in  the  power 
of  the  author  to  recollect  and  relate  the  particulars  of  the  many  cases  of 
persons  who  have  ascribed  their  conversion  from  infidelity,  and  their  af- 
fectionate embracing  of  the  gospel,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  to  the  use 
of  this  little,  unpretending  work.  In  many  instances,  the  accounts  were 
given  to  the  author  by  the  persons  themselves,  earnestly  seeking  an  in- 
terview for  the  purpose  ;  in  others,  by  their  friends  made  happy  by  their 
conversion  ;  or  by  those  who  had  advised  the  reading  of  the  book,  and 
wished  its  writer  to  be  partaker,  with  them,  in  the  joy  of  knowing  that  it 
had  been  made  a  signal  blessing.  Some  are  now  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel,  who,  when  they  began  the  perusal,  were  in  the  darkness  of  infidel- 
ity. A  copy  of  the  first  edition  was  sent  by  the  author,  as  a  present,  to  the 
library  of  a  literary  institution.  Some  time  after,  he  received  a  request 
for  another  copy,  with  the  reason  that  the  first  had  got  worn  out  belore  it 
ever  reached  its  destination.  The  explanation  was,  that  an  officer  of  the 
institution  had  lent  it  to  a  person  living  in  a  neighbouring  village,  who 
was  well  known  among  the  inhabitants  as  an  infidel,  and  who  had  suc- 
ceeded in  poisoning  the  minds  of  many  in  the  vicinity  against  the  gospel. 
God  blessed  the  book  to  the  breaking  up  of  that  man's  whole  boasted  sys- 
tem of  opiniorj.  He  became  a  Christian,  and  then  sent  the  volume,  as  a 


PREFACE. 

missionary,  among  those  whom  he  had  poisoned.  When  its  rounds  were 
done  (which  were  greatly  blessed),  it  was  worn  out,  and  a  new  one  was 
requested  for  the  library. 

The  author  is  sensitively  aware  of  the  delicacy  of  his  speaking  of  these 
things,  lest  he -should  seem  to  regard  them  with  feelings  of  self-compla- 
cency, and  to  mention  them  with  a  view  to  his  own  praise.  God  forbid  ! 
How  can  he  take  praise  to  himself  for  that  which  is,  and  must  be  so  ex- 
clusively, the  work  of  the  mighty  power  and  unsearchable  grace  of  God, 
as  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  from  a  hardened  infidel  to  being  an  hum- 
ble, obedient  follower  of  Christ]  He  has  three  motives  in  speaking  of 
these  things.  One  is,  that  he  may  thankfully  acknowledge  the  goodness 
and  condescension  of  God  in  having  made  use  of  an  instrument  so  humble 
and  unworthy,  for  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  wonderful  and  infinitely 
precious  end  as  the  turning  of  immortal  souls  "  from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  Certainly,  when  these  lectures 
were  composed,  and  when  the  author  concluded  to  print  them,  he  little 
suspected  ever  to  be  greeted  with  such  accounts  of  their  usefulness  as 
have  come  to  his  ears. 

Another  motive  is,  that  persons  may  be  encouraged  to  put  this,  or 
similar  books,  into  the  hands  of  those  who  unhappily  have  taken  up  with 
sentiments  opposed  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  is  a  mass  and  a  so- 
lemnity of  strength  in  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  when  properly  pre- 
sented ;  there  is  visible  upon  them  so  distinctly  the  handwriting  of  God, 
that  they  cannot  fail  to  be  exceedingly  impressive  to  any  mind  that  is 
once  induced  to  consider  them.  The  author  is  persuaded  that  professing 
Christians  are  too  little  informed  on  this  subject  for  their  own  benefit  and 
usefulness,  and  that  the  importance  of  the  general  circulation  of  well-di 
gested,  serious,  earnest,  spiritually-minded  works  thereon  is  not  rightly 
appreciated  by  the  Christian  community. 

A  third  motive  is,  to  point  out  one  reason  which  may  account  for  the 
fact  that,  in  the  circulation  of  this  book  and  others  of  the  same  class,  in  a 
certain  respect  which  will  presently  be  mentioned,  there  have  occurred 
so  many  more  instances,  not  merely  of  the  removal  of  skeptical  doubts, 
but  also  of  the  actual  work  of  God's  grace  in  turning  sinners  to  himself, 
than  have  usually  been  known  in  connection  with  books  on  the  Evidences 
of  Christianity.  No  explanation  can  be  found  in  any  greater  skill,  or 
weight  of  argument ;  in  any  new  evidences,  or  any  new  logical  method 
of  arraying  what  had  often  been  exhibited  before.  It  seems  to  be  in  this, 
that  the  argument  is  not  presented  merely  as  an  argument,  abstractedly 
from  the  grfe'at  and  infinitely  momentous  interests  which  depend  upon  the 
conclusion  to  which  the  reader  shall  come,  but  is  kept  in  close  connec- 
tion with  the  question,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  1  and  thus  its  whole 
force  becomes  a  matter  of  serious  and  solemn  impression,  as  well  as  oi 


PREFACE.  V 

intellectual  conviction.  This  is  seen  in  the  admirable  lectures  on  the 
Evidences,  by  Bishop  Wilson,  and  also  in  the  forcible  volume  on  the 
same  subject,  by  one  whom  the  present  writer  cannot  speak  of  without 
an  expression  of  veneration  and  love  for  one  of  the  most  eminent  Chris- 
tians and  philosophers  of  his  age — his  deceased  friend,  the  late  Olinthus 
Gregory,  LL.D.  Those  books  exhibit  gospel  truth,  as  well  as  prove  that 
he  gospel  is  ^fue.  The  earnestness  of  the  Christian  preacher  accom- 
anies  the  argument  of  the  scholastic  reasoner.  The  question  stands  be- 
fore the  reader  as  one  of  conscience  as  well  as  of  judgment.  It  seems 
invested  with  all  that  is  serious  in  the  worth  of  his  soul  and  in  the  con- 
sideration of  eternity.  God  blesses  such  books  of  Evidences  more  than 
others,  as  He  blesses  those  sermons  more  than  others  which,  though  they 
may  be  inferior  in  argument,  in  talent,  in  eloquence,  have  more  of  the 
seriousness  and  earnestness  of  the  gospel.  Perhaps  the  writer  may  be 
alloweo"  to  insert  here,  in  confirmation  of  these  views,  the  opinion  of  one 
whose  judgment  he  is  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  honouring.  The  present 
noble  president  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  Lord  Bexley, 
addressed  to  the  writer,  in  1833,  a  very  kind  letter  concerning  this  vol- 
ume, in  which  he  said,  "  In  one  important  respect,  it  seems  to  excel  other 
works  ol  a  similar  kind,  namely,  that  while  the  chain  of  argument  is  de- 
duced with  great  clearness  and  force,  no  opportunity  is  lost  of  giving  it  a 
practical  application,  and  of  impressing  holiness  on  the  heart,  as  well  as 
conviction  on  the  understanding.  The  want  of  this  renders  many  books 
dry  and  repulsive,  which  are  much  to  be  admired  for  sagacity  and  extent 
of  information." 

In  the  year  1833,  this  work  was  reprinted  in  England,  under  the  advice 
and  superintendence  of  the  late  Dr.  Olinthus  Gregory,  of  the  Royal  Mil- 
itary Academy ;  and  to  that  edition  it  is  probably  owing  that  a  communi- 
cation has  been  received  from  the  committee  of  the  venerable  society  of 
the  Church  of  England  "  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge,' 
requesting  the  author's  approbation  to  its  being  adopted  by  that  society 
and  printed  as  one  of  its  works  for  distribution. 

C.  P.  M-ILVAINE. 
Gambier  (Ohio),  Jan.,  1844. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  I. 

INTRODUCTORY   OBSERVATIONS,  p.  15. 

The  Difficulty  of  presenting  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  arises,  not  from  any 
lack  of  Arguments,  but  from  the  Difficulty  of  a  just  Selection  and  Arrangement 
where  Materials  are  so  abundant,  p.  16. 

I.  The  high  Importance  of  the  Investigation  proposed,  p.  17. 

The  Question  is,  7s  the  Religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, a  Revelation  from  God,  and,  consequently,  possessed  of  a  sovereign  Right  to  uni- 
versal Faith  and  Obedience  ?  p.  17. 

We  must  have  the  Religion  of  Christ  or  none,  p.  17. 

Deism,  the  only  imaginable  Substitute,  shown  to  offer  no  Refuge,  p.  18 

The  Investigation  urged  on  the  experimentally  convinced  Christian,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  spiritual  Pleasure  and  Improvement,  p.  25 ;  and  as  a  matter  of  Duty  to  the 
Cause  of  Truth,  and  to  the  Good  of  his  Neighbour,  p.  25. 

The  same  urged  on  the  merely  nominal  Christian,  as  necessary  to  a  rational  and 
steadfast  Belief  of  what  he  professes  not  to  doubt,  p.  26 ;  and  for  a  deeper  Impres 
sion  of  the  Solemnity  of  its  Truth,  p.  27. 

The  Investigation  derives  additional  Importance  from  the  peculiar  Character  of 
the  present  Times,  as  those  of  Licentiousness,  under  the  Boast  of  Freedom,  in  such 
Inquiries,  p.  28. 

It  derives,  also,  advantage  from  the  present  Times,  as  distinguished  for  scientific 
Research  and  Discovery,  p.  32. 

II.  The  Importance  of  strict  Attention  to  the  Spirit  in  which  this  Investigation  is  con- 
ducted, p.  34. 

The  Opposition  between  the  Precepts  of  Christianity  and  the  natural  Disposi- 
tions of  Man  makes  the  Question  one  of  Feeling  as  well  as  Evidence,  and  has  a 
Tendency  to  magnify  Objections,  and  to  depreciate  the  Contrary,  p.  34. 

The  Pride  of  humam  Reason  is  often  deeply  offended  at  the  Claims  of  Christian 
ity,  p.  36. 

It  is  true  of  Christianity,  as  of  many  other  very  important  Matters  of  Truth,  that 
Objections  are  more  easily  invented  than  answered,  p.  39. 

Phenomena  which  these  Considerations  account  for,  p.  40. 

Docility  of  Mind ; 

A  deep  Seriousness  of  Purpose  ; 

And  Prayer,  earnestly  recommended  as  necessary  to  this  Investigation,  p.  40. 

LECTURE  II. 

AUTHENTICITY   OP   THE   NEW  TESTAMENT,  p.  42. 

The  Study  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  may  be  brief  or  extended,  accord- 
ing as  the  Object  is  simply  Conviction ;  or,  in  addition  to  that,  the  Pleasure  of 
collecting  all  the  various  Lights  which  may  be  concentrated  on  this  Subject. 

The  Evidences  are  of  two  general  Classes,  viz.,  External  or  Historical,  and  In- 
ternal, p.  42. 

A  brief^Account  of  what  each  Head  includes,  p.  42. 

The  present  Course  of  Lectures  confined  to  the  External. 

Th«  complete  treatment  of  this  Division  would  begin  with  the  Necessity  of  a  Di- 
vine Revelation,  as  the  History  of  Mankind  exhibits  it,  p.  43. 

We  begin  with  the  AUTHENTICITY  op  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,  p.  44. 

Difference  between  Authenticity  and  Credibility,  as  used  in  these  Lectures,  p.  44. 

The  Question  is,  How  does  it  appear  that  the  several  Parts  of  the  New  Testament 
were  written  by  the  Men  to  whom  they  are  ascribed,  the  original  Disciples  of  Christ, 
and  are  therefore  Authentic  ?  p.  45. 

The  same  Course  pursued  as  in  ascertaining  the  Authenticity  of  any  other 
Book,  p.  45.  A  general  Sketch  of  the  Argument,  p.  47. 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

I.  The  Books  of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted,  or  alluded  to,  by  a  series  of  Writers, 
who  may  be  followed  up  in  unbroken  succession  from  the  present  Age  to  that  of  the  Apos- 
tles, p.  48. 

This  shown  by  reference  to  Catalogues,  &c.,  from  the  4th  Century  to  the  Age 
of  the  Apostles,  p.  48-57. 

Particulars  included  in  the  above  which  require  a  more  special  Notice. 

1st  The  Books  of  the  New  Testament,  when  quoted  or  alluded  to,  are  treated 
with  supreme  Regard,  as  possessing  a  singular  Authority,  and  as  conclusive  in 
Questions  of  Religion,  p.  57. 

2d.  They  were  united  at  a  very  early  Period  in  a  distinct  Volume,  p.  58. 

3d.  They  were  at  a  very  early  Period  publicly  read  and  expounded  in  the 
Churches,  p.  58. 

4th.  Commentaries  were  written  on  them,  Harmonies  constructed,  Copies  dili- 
gently compared,  and  Tfenslations  made  into  different  Languages,  p.  59. 

5th.  The  Agreement  of  the  ancient  Churches  as  to  what  were  the  Authentic 
Books  of  the  New  Testament  was  complete,  p.  60. 

6th.  There  was  as  entire  an  Agreement  among  the  Heretics  of  the  earliest  Cen- 
turies as  among  the  Orthodox,  p.  61. 

7th.  These  several  Heads  of  Evidence  cannot  be  pretended  to  be  in  favour  of 
any  Apocryphal  Scriptures,  p.  62. 

Six  Evidences  of  Spuriousness,  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  Apocryphal  Scrip- 
tures, none  of  them  in  the  New  Testament,  p.  64. 

Confirmation  given  by  the  Existence  of  Apocryphal  Writings  to  the  Claims  of 
the  New  Testament,  p.  65. 

Lesson  to  the  Believer  from  what  has  been  exhibited,  p.  67. 

LECTURE  III. 

AUTHENTICITY  AND   INTEGRITY   OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT,  p.  68. 

From  the  Tenor  of  the  preceding  Lecture,  it  is  Evident  that  the  Canon  of  the 
New  Testament  was  nut  made  without  the  most  intelligent  and  careful  Investigation,  p.  68. 

This  farther  appears  from  the  numerous  Catalogues  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
p.  69. 

From  the  Pains  taken  to  procure  Information,  and  the  decisive  Censure  with 
which  an  Attempt  to  pass  a  spurious  Book  was  visited,  p.  70. 

The  gradual  Steps  by  which  the  Canon  was  completed  afforded  the  best  Oppor- 
tunity for  the  settlement  of  the  Claim  of  any  Book  to  Authenticity,  p.  70. 

Some  Remarks  concerning  the  Formation  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament, 
p.  71. 

The  canonical  Authority  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  of  James ;  the  Second 
of  Peter ;  the  Second  and  Third  of  John ;  of  Jude ;  ami  of  the  Book  of  Revelation, 
p.  75-80. 

The  Testimony  of  the  Adversaries  of  Christianity,  p.  81. 

The  preceding  Evidence  confirmed  by  a  Reference  to 

The  Language  and  Style  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament. 

1st.  They  are  in  perfect  Accordance  with  the  local  and  other  Circumstances  of 
the  reputed  Writers,  p.  85. 

2d.  They  are  in  perfect  Harmony  with  the  known  Characters  of  the  reputed 
Writers,  p.  88. 

The  Result  is  that,  if  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  be  not  Authentic,  no- 
thing less  than  a  Miracle  can*account  for  their  early  and  universal  Currency,  p.  89. 

On  the  INTEGRITY  of  these  Books,  that  they  have  undergone  no  material  Al- 
teration, we  reason,  • 

1st.  From  the  perfect  Impossibility  of  any  material  Alteration,  p.  94. 

1&.  From  the  Agreement  among  the  existing  Manuscripts,  p.  96. 

3d.  I1  rom  the  Agreement  of  the  Text  with  the  numerous  Quotations  in  the 
Works  of  early  Christian  Writers,  and  with  ancient  Translations,  p.  97. 

LECTURE  IV. 

CREDIBILITY  OF   THE   GOSPEL   HISTORY,  p.   99. 

A  Book  may  be  Authentic  and  not  Credible,  p.  99. 

Aim  of  this  Lecture  to  prove  that  what  the  Gospel  History  relates  as  Matter  of 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Fact  is  worthy  of  Reliance  as  such,  independently  of  all  Inferences  or  Doctrines 
connected  therewith,  p.  100. 

The  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History  ascertained  precisely  like  that  of  any 
other  History,  p.  100. 

The  Peculiarity  of  the  present  Case  such  as  that,  having  proved  the  Authenticity 
of  the  Books  containing  the  Gospel  History,  we  have  proved  the  Credibility  ot  the 
History.'p.  100. 

But  a  broader  Plan  of  Argument  is  taken : 

A  general  View  of  the  Proof  of  Credibility,  p.  103.  The  two  Points  to  be 
made  out  in  relation  to  any  Historical  Document  are  competent  Knowledge  and 
trustworthy  Honesty  in  the  Writer,  p.  105. 

I.  The  Writers  of  the  Gospel  History  had    Opportunities  of  possessing  adequate 
Knowledge  as  to  those.  Matters  of  Fact  which  they  related,  p.  106. 

II.  There  is  abundant  Evidence  that  they  were  too  Honest  to  relate  anything  but  truth, 
p.  107. 

1st.  The  Narratives  are  in  a  high  degree  Circumstantial,  p.  107. 

2d.  The  Authors  manifest  no  Consciousness  of  narrating  anything  about  which, 
as  a  Matter  of  Fact,  there  was  the  smallest  Doubt,  p.  109. 

3d.  There  is  a  minute  Accuracy  in  all  the  Allusions  to  the  Manners,  Customs, 
Opinions,  political  Events,  &c.,  of  the  Times,  p.  111. 

4th.  The  Argument  greatly  strengthened  by  considering  the  New  Testament 
as  a  Collection  of  Writings  by  eight  perfectly  independent  Authors,  p.  1 12. 

The  Consideration  that  the  Writers  of  the  Gospels  were  Disciples  and  Minis- 
ters of  Christ  should  be  regarded  as  strengthening  their  Testimony,  p.  113. 

Absurd  Consequences  of  supposing  them  not  to  have  been  Sincere  in  their 
Statements,  p.  117. 

The  Gospel  History  has  all  the  Testimony  that  could  pr^sibly  have  been  ex- 
pected, in  the  Nature  of  Things,  from  the  Enemies  of  Christianity,  p.  119. 

It  was  utterly  impossible  that  the  Gospel  History  should  \ave  gained  such  Cur- 
rency as  it  had  in  the  Apostles'  Time,  had  it  not  been  Trut,  p.  121. 

LECTURE    V. 

MIRACLES,  p.  126. 

Authenticity  of  the  Books,  and  Credibility  of  the  History  contained  therein,  being 
ascertained,  we  are  prepared  to  open  the  Contents  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
first  thing  we  perceive  is,  that  it  professes  to  teach  a  Divinely-revealed  Religion. 
And  the  Question  is, 

What  are  the  Evidences  that  the  Religion  contained  in  the  New  Testament  is  a  Di- 
vine Revelation  ?  p.  126. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  constantly  appealed  to  Miracles  for  his  Credentials  as 
an  Ambassador  from  God,  p.  126. 

The  sufficiency  of  Miracles  as  Credentials,  when  well  attested,  acknowledged 
by  Infidels,  p.  127. 

Reasons  for  not  proceeding  directly  to  the  Proof  of  such  Credentials,  p.  128. 

The  present  Lecture  devoted  to  certain  preliminary  Considerations. 

I.  There  is  nothing  Unreasonable  or  Improbable  in  the  Idea  of  a  Miracle  being  wrought 
in  Proof  of  a  Divine  Revelation,  p.  128. 

II.  If  Miracles  were  wrought  in  Attestation  of  the  Mission  of  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles, they  can  be  rendered  Credible  to  us  by  no  other  Evidence  than  that  of  Testimony 
p.  131. 

III.  Miracles  are  capable  of  being  Proved  by  Testimony,  p.  133. 

Hume's  Argument  against  Miracles,  in  Proof  of  a  Divine  Revelation,  stated 
and  answered,  p.  134. 

IV.  The  Testimony  in  Proof  of  the  Miracles  of  the  Gospel  has  not  diminished  in 
Force  by  the  increase  of  Age,  p.  146. 

V.  In  being  called  to  examine  the  Credibility  of  these  Miracles  by  the  Evidence  of 
Testimony,  we  are  more  favourably  situated  than  if  we  had  been  enabled  to  subject  them 
to  the  Evidence  of  the  Senses,  p.  148. 

The  whole  Truth  exhibited  in  this  Lecture  calls  us  to  adore  the  Wisdom  of 
God,  p.  152. 


X  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE    VL 

MIRACLES,  p.  155. 

Have  we  satisfactory  Evidence  that  genuine  Miracles  were  wrought  by  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Apostles  ?  p.  155. 

This  Question  is  settled  by  the  Proof  of  Credibility. 

Another  line  of  Argument  adopted. 

The  Religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  in  its  first  Introduction,  ap- 
pealed to  Miracles  for  Evidence  of  the  Divine  Authority  of  its  Teachers,  p.  156. 

I.  Supposing  the  Works  related  of  Christ  to  have  actually  occurred,  many  of 
them  must  have  been  genuine  Miracles,  p.  159. 

II.  The  alleged  Miracles  of  Christ  were  such  as  admitted  at  once  of  the  Test  of 
the  Senses,  p.  160. 

III.  They  were  performed  in  the  most  public  Manner,  p.  160. 

IV.  They  were  very  Numerous  and  of  great.  Variety,  p.  161. 

V.  The  Success  was  in  every  Instance  Instantaneous  and  Complete,  p.  1 62. 

VI.  There  is  no  Evidence  of  an  Attempt  on  the  part  of  Christ  or  His  Apostles 
to  perform  a  Miracle  in  which  they  were  accused  of  a  Failure,  p.  163. 

VII.  The  Length  of  Time  during  which  they  professed  to  perform  miraculous 
Works,  p.  164. 

VIII.  Their  Works  underwent  the  most  rigid  Examination  from  those  who  had 
every  Opportunity  of  ascertaining  their  Character,  p.  165. 

IX.  Their  Adversaries  had  every  Advantage  in  the  Fact  that  these  Miracles 
were  published  and  appealed  to  immediately  after,  and  in  the  Places  where  they 
occurred,  p.  166. 

X.  These  Arguments  derive  important  Aid  from  a  Consideration  of  the  Agents 
whose  Works  were  subjected  to  such  Scrutiny,  p.  168. 

XL  None  of  those  who  were  Eyewitnesses  of  what  Jesus  or  His  Apostles 
wrought,  were  ever  induced  to  confess  themselves  deceived,  or  that  they  had 
ever  seen  anything  but  Truth  in  those  miraculous  Gifts  by  which  they  had  been 
persuaded  to  embrace  the  Gospel,  p.  169. 

XII.  The  Character  of  the  Miracles  themselves,  p.  171. 
•    XIII.  Evidence  from  the  primitive  Adversaries  of  Christianity,  p.  172. 

XIV.  Testimony  of  all  who  were  converted  to  Christianity.  Such  Testimony 
shown  to  be  stronger  than  that  of  Adversaries,  p.  176. 

The  Absurdities  which  must  be  believed  by  those  who  maintain  that  the  Mira 
cles  were  Fictions,  and,  consequently,  that  their  Authors  were  Deceivers,  p.  179. 

LECTURE   VII. 

PROPHECY,  p.  184. 

In  having  proved  the  Genuineness  of  the  Miracles  attesting  the  Divine  Mission 
of  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  we  have  made  out  a  complete  Proof  of  the  Divine  Au 
thority  of  Christianity.  But  our  Object  being,  not  only  to  prove  this,  but  to  show 
by  how  many  Ways  it  may  be  proved,  we  take  up  a  new  Line  of  Argument  derived 
from  Prophecy,  p.  184. 

What  a  Prophecy  is.  The  Application  of  fulfilled  Prophecy  to  the  Proof  of  a 
Divine  Revelation,  p.  185. 

Prophecy  furnishes  an  Argument  which,  in  point  of  Force,  is  continually  grow 
mg,  p.  186. 

In  much  of  the  Argument  from  Prophecy,  the  Evidence  is  before  our  Eyes,  ad 
dressed  to  our  Senses,  p.  188. 

The  Religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  on  its  first  Introduction,  ap- 
pealed to  Prophecy  for  the  Credentials  of  its  Founder,  p.  190. 

The  Weight  of  the  Evidence  from  Prophecy,  and  the  moral  Grandeur  witn 
which  it  appears  in  Evidence  of  Christianity,  can  be  appreciated  only  by  a  fu!1 
View  of  the  immense  Scheme  and  Extent  of  the  Prophecies  in  the  Bible,  p.  193. 

The  Fulfilment  of  a  Selection  of  miscellaneous  Prophecies  exhibited,  p.  198. 
Prophecies  concerning  Zedekiah,  p.  198 ;  the  Destruction  of  Babylon,  p.  198 ;  and 
of  Tyre,  p.  199 ;  concerning  Egypt,  p.  200 ;  concerning  the  Country  and  Cities  ot 
.  udea,  p.  201  ;  concerning  the  Jews,  p.  202 ;  concerning  the  Empires  of  Chaldea, 
Persia,  Macedon,  and  Rome,  in  Daniel,  p.  206. 

The  Fulfilment  of  Prophecies  concerning  Christ,  p.  208. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

1st.  Those  which  relate  to  the  Time  and  Circumstances  of  His  Advent,  p.  208. 
2d.  Those  which  speak  of  His  Life,  Sufferings,  Death,  Resurrection,  and  In- 
crease of  His  Kingdom,  p.  209. 

The  Idea  of  Chance,  as  explaining  the  Coincidences  mentioned,  p.  213. 
Three  Conclusions  from  the  prophetic  Argument,  as  exhibited,  p.  215. 

LECTURE   VIII. 

PROPHECY,  p.  216. 

Christ  was  the  Author,  as  well  as  the  Subject,  of  Prophecies. 

By  Prophecy,  as  well  as  Miracles,  He  proved  His  Divine  Mission.  None  of 
His  Prophecies  more  Impressive  than  those  concerning  the  Destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem. These  selected  for  present  Consideration,  p.  216. 

Is  it  well  ascertained  that  these  were  published  before  the  Event  ?  p.  217. 

1st.  The  Prediction  of  the  appearing  of  False  Christs,  deceiving  Many,  by 
Signs  and  Wonders,  prior  to  the  main  Event,  p.  219. 

2d.  Of  Wars  and  rumours  of  Wars  preceding  the  Siege  of  Jerusalem,  p.  220. 

3d.  Of  Famines,  Pestilences,  and  Earthquakes,  in  divers  Places,  p.  221. 

4th.  Of  fearful  Signs  from  Heaven,  p.  222. 

5th.  Of  the  Persecution  of  Christians  as  one  of  the  Signs  of  approaching  Des- 
olations, p.  224. 

6th.  A  consequent  declension  of  Religion  among  the  professed  Disciples  of 
Christ,  p.  225. 

7th.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  all  the  World  for  a  Witness  before  the 
Event  should  come,  p.  225. 

8th.  Jerusalem  compassed  with  Armies,  and  the  Escape  of  the  Christians,  p.  227. 

9th.  The  Method  of  the  Siege,  p.  230. 

10th.  The  unparalleled  Tribulation,  p.  231. 

llth.  The  complete  Destruction  of  the  City  and  Temple,  p.  234. 

12th.  The  Captivity  of  the  Jews  in  all  Nations,  p.  238. 

Jerusalem  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  p.  239. 

Attempt  of  Julian  to  rebuild  the  Temple,  p.  240. 

Brief  View  of  the  Condition  of  Jerusalem  to  the  present  Time,  p.  242. 

Reflections  on  the  preceding  Particulars,  p.  245. 

Postscript,  containing  an  Application  of  the  Theory  of  Probabilities  to  the  Proph- 
ecies considered  above,  showing  the  Argument  negatively,  p.  247. 

LECTURE  IX. 

THE   PROPAGATION   OF   CHRISTIANITY,  p.  251. 

The  Proof  of  Christianity  as  a  Divine  Revelation  has  already  been  twice  finish- 
ed :  first,  by  the  Argument  from  Miracles  ;  secondly,  by  that  from  Prophecy,  p.  251. 

A  third  independent  Proof  is  now  to  be  undertaken. 

In  estimating  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  as  an  Evidence  of  Divine  Attesta- 
tion, consider, 

I.    The  Difficulties  which  its  first  promulgators  encountered,  p.  252. 

1st.  The  "Novelty  of  the  Idea  of  propagating  a  new  Religion,  to  the  Exclusion 
of  all  others,  p.  252. 

2d.  The  Peculiarity  of  the  Gospel,  a*  a  System  of  Doctrine,  and  a  Rule  of  Heart 
ind  Life,  p.  254. 

3d.  From  the  above,  it  results  that  the  Propagation  of  Christianity  must  have 
'^een  opposed  by  all  the  Influence  of  every  Priesthood,  Heathen  and  Jewish,  p.  256. 

4th.  The  Opposition  of  the  Magistrate  was  added  to  that  of  the  Priest,  p.  258. 

5th.  To  these  associated  Powers  were  added  the  opposing  Prejudices  and  Pas- 
•'•nns  of  all  People,  p.  259. 

6th.  The  Wisdom  and  Pride  of  the  Heathen  Philosophers  were  not  the  least  foi 
nidabie  Opponents,  p.  260. 

7th.  All  these  Opponents  derived  the  greater  Influence  Irom  the  peculiar  Charac 
to  of  the  Age,  p.  261. 

8th.  They  appear  the  more  formidable  in  contrast  with  the  peculiar  Character  oj 
he  Men  to  whom  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  was  committed,  p.  262. 

9th.  And  by  a  Consideration  of  the  Circumstances  of  Depression  and  Discourage 
ment  under  which  those  Men  began  their  Work,  p.  263. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

10th.  And  of  the  Mode  they  adopted,  p.  264. 

llth.  They  were  met  everywhere  by  the  fiercest  Persecution,  p.  285. 

It  is  certain  that  they  understood  the  Difficulties  and  anticipated  the  Dangers 
of  their  Undertaking,  p.  267. 

II.   The  Success  of  the  Apostles  in  propagating  the  Gospel,  p.  268. 

A  brief  View  of  the  Progress  of  Christianity  during  about  seventy  Years  from 
the  Commencement  of  its  Promulgation,  p.  268-274. 

This  rapid  Extension  compared  with  that  of  the  Doctrines  of  Heathen  Philoso- 
phers, p.  274. 

And  with  the  Propagation  of  Mohammedanism,  p.  275. 

And  with  the  Success  attending  Efforts  at  the  present  Day  for  the  Establish- 
ment of  Christianity  among  the  Heathen,  p.  278. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Apostles  was  a  Miracle,  p.  280. 

The  Absurdities  necessarily  attaching  to  any  Effort  to  account  for  it  on  other 
Grounds  than  that  of  the  Power  and  Favour  of  God,  p.  280. 

The  Argument  from  Propagation  is  not  yet  Complete.  It  is  yet  to  receive  im- 
mense additional  Force  from  the  Success  which  is  yet  promised  to  the  Gospel, 
p.  283. 

LECTURE  X.  ' 

THE  FRUITS   OF   CHRISTIANITY,  p.  284. 

A  fourth  Line  of  Argument,  and  a  fourth  independent  Proof  commenced  in  this 
Lecture. 

The  true  Results  of  any  System  of  Doctrine  are  always  a  correct  Exponent  of 
its  Character,  as  True  or  False. 

This  is  a  Test  to  which  the  Saviour  Himself  directed  us,  p.  284. 

It  were  well  if  Infidelity  were  more  frequently  tried  by  this  Test,  p.  285. 

The  Consideration  of  the  Fruits  of  Christianity  divided  into, 

I.  The  Effects  of  Christianity  on  Society  in  general. 

II.  Its  Effects  on  the  Character  and  Happiness  of  its  genuine  Disciples,  p.  285. 
The  Former  made  the  Subject  of  this  Lecture. 

A  brief  Survey  of  the  moral  Condition  of  the  World  at  the  first  Publication  of 
the  Gospel,  p.  285. 

1st.  The  Religion  of  the  Heathen  in  the  Age  of  the  Apostles,  p.  286. 

2d.  The  Spirit  of  Cruelty  that  reigned  among  them,  p.  288. 

3d.  Then:  degrading  Vices,  p.  291. 

The  striking  Contrast  wherever  genuine  Christianity  has  reigned,  p.  294-299. 

There  is«no  possible  Way  of  accounting  for  this  Contrast  but  by  ascribing  it  to 
the  direct  Influence  of  Christianity,  p.  299-302. 

Confessions  of  Infidels,  p.  302. 

Illustrations  of  the  Fruit  of  Christianity  in  modem  Missions  among  the  Hea- 
then, p.  302. 

Defence  of  Christianity  against  the  Charge  of  being  the  Cause  of  the  Wars, 
Persecutions,  &c.,  which  are  connected  with  its  History,  p.  306. 

Application  of  the  Argument.  The  Absurdities  necessarily  involved  hi  th« 
Creed  of  the  Infidel,  p.  312. 

LECTURE  XI. 

THE  FRUITS  OF   CHRISTIANITY,  p.  317. 

The  Trial  of  Christianity  by  its  Fruits  is  as  Philosophical  as  it  is  Scriptural 
Eighteen  Centuries  have  afforded  all  conceivable  Opportunities  of  ascertaining 
what  are  its  genuine  Fruits,  p.  317. 

The  present  Lecture  confined  to  the  Fruits  of  Christianity  in  the  Character  and 
Happiness  of  its  genuine  Disciples,  p.  318. 

Reason  for  placing  such  Fruits  among  the  external  Evidences,  p.  318. 

I.  The  moral  Transformations  which  the  Gospel  in  all  Ages  has  notoriously 
wrought  cannot  be  accounted  for  but  on  the  Supposition  of  a  Divine  Power  ac- 
companying its  Operations,  p.  318. 

II.  The  Fruits  of  Christianity  in  the  Lives  of  its  genuine  Disciples  contrasted 
with  those  which  notoriously  characterize  the  Lives  of  its  Opposers,  p.  326. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

III.  The  Fruits,  &c.,  as  displayed  in  the  Deaths  of  its  genuine  Disciples,  con 
trasted  with  those  exhibited  in  the  Deaths  of  its  Opposers,  p.  341. 
Practical  Conclusion,  p.  356. 

LECTURE  XII. 

SUMMARY   OF   THE    ARGUMENT   AND  APPLICATION   TO   OBJECTIONS,  p.  357. 

The  Recapitulation  of  the  Argument  in  the  preceding  Lectures,  p.  357-369. 

This  Review  leads  to  the  Consideration  of, 

1st.  The  Plainness  and  Simplicity  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  p.  369. 

2d.  Their  great  Variety  and  Accumulation,  p.  370. 

3d.  Their  Impressiveness,  p.  372. 

4th.  The  whole  Array  is  strictly  Philosophical,  p.  375. 

The  Objection  founded  on  the  Mysteriousness  of  certain  Things  in  Christianity 
answered,  p.  382. 

The  Objection  that  we  cannot  understand  the  Reason  of  certain  Things  for 
which  Christianity  is  responsible  answered,  p.  385. 

The  Injustice  done  to  Christianity  by  placing  her  so  exclusively  on  the  Defen- 
sive. Let  In  fidelity  be  placed  in  the  same  Position,  p.  389. 

LECTURE  XIII. 

INSPIRATION    OF   THE    SCRIPTURES  AND  CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS,  p.  392. 

Christianity  and  the  Scriptures  are  essentially  Associated.  But  the  Proof  of 
Divine  Revelation  in  the  Former  is  no  Proc  of  Divine  Inspiration  in  the  Latter. 
Need  of  Inspiration  in  the  Book  which  te^  us  what  Christianity  is,  p.  392 

The  Proposition  to  be  sustained  in  this  Lecture  is,  that 

All  Scripture  is  given  by  Inspiration  of  God,  p.  393. 

Inspiration  defined,  p.  393. 

Having  Established  the  Credibility  of  the  Saviour  and  His  Apostles  as  Messen- 
gers  sent  of  God,  our  direct  Reference  in  the  present  Inquiry  is  to  what  they  have 
asserted,  so  that  our  simple  Question  is,  Does  the  New  Testament  bear  Witness  that 
the  several  Books  of  the  Bible  were  treated  by  the  Saviour  or  His  Apostles  as  Divinely 
inspired  ?  p.  394. 

I.  The  Inquiry  begun  with  regard  to  the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  p.  394. 
1st.  The  Saviour  and  his  Apostles  regarded  the  Old  Testament  with  at  least  as 

much  Reverence  as  did  the  Jews  in  their  day,  p.  394. 

2d.  We  have  the  direct  Assertion  of  the  Inspiration  of  the  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament  by  St.  Paul,  p.  396. 

II.  The  Inquiry  continued  with  regard  to  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament. 
1st.  The  Inspiration  of  the  New  Testament  may  be  naturally  and  reasonably 

inferred  from  that  of  the  Old,  p.  397. 

2d.  The  same  Conclusion  necessarily  follows  from  the  evident  Inspiration  of 
the  Apostles  in  their  Preaching  and  other  official  Acts,  p.  399. 

3d.  If  the  Apostles  did  not  intend  to  produce  this  Conviction,  and  it  be  not 
well  founded,  they  adopted  the  most  likely  Means  of  leading  us  into  a  most  ira 
porlant  Heresy,  p.  401. 

Practical  Address  to  Headers  in  Conclusion,  p.  405. 

1* 


EVIDENCES    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 


LECTURE  I. 

INTRODUCTORY     OBSERVATIONS. 

I  APPEAR  before  those  who  have  come  this  evening  to 
fa  Four  me  with  their  attention,  as  sustaining,  under  appoint- 
ment from  the  University  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  office 
of  Lecturer  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity.  It  is  but  jus- 
tice to  my  own  feelings,  to  assure  you  that  I  had  not  thought 
of  entering  on  so  much  responsibility  until  earnestly  requested 
to  do  so  by  respected  individuals  belonging  to  the  Council  of 
that  institution.  I  am  not  without  much  apprehension  of 
having  ventured  far  beyond  my  qualifications  in  acceding  to 
their  desires.  When  I  think  of  the  many  in  this  city  of 
much  superior  furniture  of  mind  and  spirit,  to  whom  the 
office  might  have  been  intrusted,  and  of  my  own  daily  and 
engrossing  occupations  in  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  leaving 
so  little  time  or  strength  for  any  other  occupation,  however 
important,  it  is  a  matter  almost  of  alarm  that  I  find  myself 
committed  to  a  series  of  lectures  for  which  the  very  best  in- 
tellect, the  soundest  judgment,  and  the  most  deliberate  study, 
are  so  much  needed.  But  having  undertaken  the  work,  1 
trust  the  Lord  has  ordered  the  step  in  wisdom,  and,  if  I  seek 
his  guidance,  will  enable  me  to  go  forward  in  a  strength 
above  my  own;  so  that  I  may  be  the  instrument,  under  his 
hand,  of  contributing  something  to  promote  the  improve- 
ment and  everlasting  happiness  of  those  to  whom  I  may  have 
the  pleasure  of  speaking. 


16  LECTURE    1. 

The  present  lecture  will  be  exclusively  of  an  introductoi  y 
kind.  I  pause  at  the  threshold,  in  remembrance  of  the  woid 
"and  promise  of  God :  "  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  Him, 
and  He  shall  direct  thy  steps"  I  would  devoutly  acknow- 
ledge God  as  the  omniscient  witness  in  this  undertaking ; 
the  only  source  of  wisdom,  strength,  and  blessing,  "  from 
whom  all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and  all  just  works 
do  proceed."  May  his  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  mediation  of 
Ms  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  "  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life,"  "  God,  blessed  for  ever,"  condescend  to  guide  our 
way  and  help  our  infirmities,  that  all  may  see  and  embrace 
the  TRUTH. 

The  subject  to  which  we  are  to  direct  our  attention,  has 
engaged  the  powers  of  wise,  learned,  and  good  men,  in  ^  most 
all  ages  since  the  promulgation  of  Christianity.  Minds  of 
every  class,  and  in  all  departments  of  intellectual  occupation, 
have  directly  or  indirectly,  by  design  or  unwittingly,  contri- 
buted materials  for  its  elucidation.  Thus  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  the  difficulty  of  an  appropriate  exhibition  of  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  is  rather  on  the  side  of  selection  and 
arrangement  and  the  just  proportioning  of  arguments,  than 
of  their  sufficient  multiplication.  To  give  the  various  branches 
of  the  subject  their  just  measure  of  relief  and  prominence  ; 
to  determine  what  should  be  displayed  strongly  and  com- 
pletely, and  what  should  be  sketched  with  a  lighter  pencil, 
and  placed  in  the  background  of  the  picture ;  to  adjust  the 
numerous  parts  in  such  symmetry  as  will  present  the  whole 
with  the  most  undivided  and  overcoming  effect,  is  a  difficulty 
of  no  little  magnitude,  where  attention  to  space  and  time  is 
of  so  much  consequence  as  in  the  present  undertaking.  The 
nicest  discrimination,  the  most  logical  taste,  and  a  talent  for 
extensive  combination,  may  here  find  room  for  the  exercise 
of  all  their  powers.  The  danger  is  that  one  will  lose  him- 
self amidst  the  wide  spread  and  accumulated  treasures  of 
illustration  and  evidence ;  that  he  will  fail  so  entirely  in  their 


LECTURE    I.  17 

classification  as  to  see  and  exhibit  them  confusedly  and  un- 
justly, and  for  want  of  a  good  discipline  among  his  own 
thoughts  will  lead  out  his  forces  in  feeble  detail,  instead  of 
forming  them  into  compact  masses,  and  meeting  the  enemy 
on  every  side  with  a  self-sustained  combination  of  strength. 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  main  question  on  which  our  sub- 
sequent lectures  are  to  be  employed,  it  will  be  well  to  call 
your  attention  to, 

I.  The  high  importance  of  the  investigation  on  which  we 
are  about  to  enter.  You  are  to  unite  with  me  in  examining 
the  grounds  on  which  the  religion  of  the  gospel  claims  to  be 
received,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  religion  in  the 
world,  as  containing  the  only  way  of  duty  and  the  only 
foundation  of  a  sinner's  hope  of  salvation  ;  so  that  you  may 
be  enabled  to  answer  satisfactorily  to  your  own  consciences 
and  to  all  who  may  ask  a  reason  of  your  belief,  this  great 
question :  Is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  as  exhibited  in  the 
New  Testament,  a  revelation  from  God,  and  consequently 
possessed  of  a  sovereign  right  to  universal  faith  and  obe- 
dience ? 

There  are  considerations  intrinsically  belonging  to  this 
question,  which  place  it  in  an  aspect  of  unrivalled  importance. 

We  must  have  the  religion  of  Christ  or  none.  A  very 
little  reflection  will  make  it  apparent,  that  the  question  as  to 
the  truth  of  Christianity  is  not  one  of  preference  between  two 
rival  systems  of  doctrine,  having  conflicting  claims  and 
nearly  balanced  arguments  and  benefits ;  it  is  not  whether 
the  gospel  is  more  true  and  salutary  than  some  other  mode 
of  religion,  which  though  inferior  would  still  secure  many 
of  the  most  essential  and  substantial  benefits  for  which  reli- 
gion is  desirable.  But  it  is  no  other  than  the.  plain  and 
solemn  question,  shall  we  believe  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  or  in 
none?  Shall  we  receive  and  be  comforted  by  the  light  which 
the  gospel  has  thrown  over  all  our  present  interests  and  fu- 
'ure  prospects  ;  or  shall  our  condition  in  this  life — our  rela- 


18 


LECTURE    I. 


tion  to  the  future — what  we  are  to  be,  and  what  we  are  to 
receive  hereafter  and  for  ever,  be  left  in  appalling,  impenetra- 
ble darkness  ?  Such  is  the  real  question  when  we  inquire 
whether  Christianity  is  a  revelation  from  God.  Do  any  ask 
the  reason  ?  Because  if  such  be  the  divine  origin  and  autho- 
rity of  the  religion  of  Christ,  there  can  be  no  other  religion. 
It  claims  not  only  to  stand — but  to  stand  alone.  It  demands 
not  only  that  we  believe  it — but  that,  in  doing  so,  we  consider 
ourselves  as  denying  the  truth  of  every  other  system  of  faith. 
Like  the  one  living  and  true  God,  whose  seal  and  character 
it  bears,  it  is  jealous,  and  will  not  share  its  honour  with  ano- 
ther ;  but  requires  us  to  believe  that,  as  there  is  but  one  Lord, 
so  there  is  but  one  faith — the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  Christianity  be  not  of  divine  origin,  it  is  no 
religion;  its  essential  doctrines  must  be  false;  its  whole 
structure  baseless.  Suppose  then,  for  a  moment,  that  such 
were  the  case,  what  could  we  substitute  for  the  gospel  ?  We 
must  either  plunge  into  the  abyss  of  atheism,  or  find  some- 
thing in  the  regions  of  paganism  that  would  answer ;  or  be 
content  with  the  religion  of  Mohammed ;  or  else  find  what 
our  nature  wants  in  that  which  is  unjustly  distinguished  as 
the  Religion  of  Nature,  in  other  words,  we  must  become 
Deists.  But  is  there  a  creed  among  the  countless  absurdi- 
ties of  pagan  belief  and  worship  which  any  of  us  could  be 
persuaded  to  adopt?  Could  we  be  convinced  of  the  pro- 
phetic character  of  the  Arabian  impostor,  and  receive  as  of 
divine  authority  the  professed  revelations  and  unrighteous 
features  of  the  Koran,  after  having  rejected  such  a  book  as 
the  New  Testament,  and  such  evidences  as  those  of  Jesus  ? 
Where  else  could  we  flee  ?  To  atheism  ?  But  that  is  the 
gulf  in  which  all  religions  are  lost. — Darkness  is  on  the  face 
of  the  deep.  Nothing  remains  that  does  not  acknowledge 
the  divine  revelation  of  Christianity,  but  the  self-styled  reli- 
gion of  nature — deism.  And  what  shall  be  said  of  this  ?  I 
am  unable  to  give  an  account  of  it  more  definite  than  that  it 


LECTURE     I.  19 

is  the  denial  of  Christianity,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  atheism, 
on  the  other,  and  is  to  be  found  somewhere  between  these 
two  infinitely  distant  extremes:   but  is  never  stationary, 
changing  place  with  the  times ;  accommodating  its  charac 
ter  to  the  disposition  of  every  disciple,  and  permitting  any 
one  to  assume  the  name  of  Deist  who  will  only  believe  theso 
two  articles  of  faith — that  there  is  a  God,  and  that  Chris- 
tianity is  untrue.     Such  is  the  religion  which,  according  to 
Paine,  "  teaches  us  without  the  possibility  of  being  mistaken 
all  that  is  necessary  or  proper  to  be  known."     And  yet 
notwithstanding  this  boasted  fulness  and  infallibility  of  in- 
struction, there  is  no  agreement  among  Deists  as  to  what 
their  natural  religion  consists  in,  or  as  to  the  truth  of  what  some 
of  them  consider  its  most  fundamental  doctrines.    Their  chief 
writers  are  altogether  at  variance  as  to  whether  there  is  any 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  other  than  in  the  law  of 
the  land,  or  the  customs  of  society  ;  whether  there  is  a  Provi- 
dence ;  whether  God  is  to  be  worshipped  in  prayer  and  praise, 
or  the  practice  of  virtue  is  not  the  only  worship  required , 
whether  the  practice  of  virtue  forbids  or  encourages  deceit, 
suicide,  revenge,  adultery,  and  all  uncleanness  ;  whether  the 
soul  is  mortal  or  immortal ;  whether  God  has  any  concern 
with  human  conduct.     Now  without  spending  a  moment 
upon  the  question  as  to  what  evidence  or  what  adaptation  to 
the  wants  of  men  and  of  sinners,  deism  could  pretend  to,  after 
the  rejection  of  evidence  and  excellence  such  as  those  of  the 
gospel ;  let  me  ask  whether  deism  can  with  any  propriety  be 
called  religion  ?     Does  that  deserve  the  name  of  a  system  of 
religious  faith  which  has  no  settled  doctrine  upon'  the  most 
essential  points  of  belief  and  practice  ?  which  may  acknow- 
ledge as  many  contradictory  forms,  at  the  same  moment,  as  il 
has  disciples,  and  never  could  remain  long  enough  in  one 
position  or  under  one  countenance  for  the  most  skilful  pencil 
to  take  its  portrait  ?     But  aside  from  all  this,  it  is  too  notori- 
ous to  be  argued,  that  whatever  pretensions  may  have  been 


W  LECTURE   I. 

advanced  by  Deists  to  something  like  a  theory  of  religious 
belief,  it  is  at  best  a  mere  theory ;  utterly  powerless  in  prac 
tice,  except  to  liberate  its  disciples  from  all  conscientious 
restraint  upon  their  passions,  and  promote  in  the  public  mind 
the  wildest  licentiousness  as  to  all  moral  obligation.     Substi- 
tute deism  for  Christianity,  and  none  acquainted  with  the 
nature  or  history  of  man  can  help  acknowledging  that  as  to 
all  the  beneficial  influence  of  religion  upon  heart  and  life,  in 
promoting  either  the  moral  purity  of  individuals,  or  the  hap- 
piness of  society,  we  shall  have  no  religion  at  all.     "When 
have  Deists  ever  maintained  a  habit  of  private,  family,  or 
public  worship  ?    Attempts  have  been  made  among  them  to 
keep  up  some  mode  of  congregational  service,  but  total  failure, 
in  every  instance,  has  proved  how  forced  was  the  effort,  and 
how  little  it  would  have  been  thought  of,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  surrounding  influence  of  Christianity.     The  first  attempt 
was  by  a  man  in  England,  who  styled  himself  the  Priest  of 
Nature.     He  relapsed  from  being  a  dissenting  preacher  in 
England,  of  an  orthodox  creed,  to  socinianism,  thence  to 
deism ;  after  which  he  set  up  in  London  a  house  of  worship, 
formed  a  liturgy,  was  patronised  by  some  persons  of  influ- 
ence, preached  and  collected  some  disciples.     But  most  of 
his  people  became  Atheists ;  and  after  an  experiment  of  four 
years,  the  congregation  was  reduced  to  notliing,  funds  failed, 
and  the  effort  was  abandoned.     The  most  formidable  enter- 
prise in  this  way  took  place  in  France  during  the  revo- 
lution.   Having  found  by  some  experience  that  to  acknow- 
ledge no  God  was  to  have  no  law ;  and  to  be  without  religious 
institutions  was  to  want  civilization  and  peace ;  certain  per- 
sons distinguished  for  learning,  and  calling  themselves  Theo 
philanthropists,  set  up  a  society  for  the  worship  of  God  on 
the  principles  of  deism.     The  desolated  churches  of  Paris 
were  given  for  their  object.     A  directory  of  deistical  worship 
was  published,  containing  prayers  and  hymns.     Lectures 
were  substituted  for  sermons.     The  ceremonies  were  simple, 


LECTURE  1.  21 

tasteful,  and  classical.  Music  added  its  charms.  The  form 
of  worship  was  sent  into  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  great 
exertions  were  made  by  the  powers  of  the  state  to  get  up  this 
religion  in  every  town.  Circumstances  were  exceedingly 
propitious  to  the  enterprise.  Christianity  had  been  banished. 
Her  witnesses  were  in  sackcloth.  She  had  none  to  oppose 
themselves  to  the  scheme  of  her  enemies.  The  country  was 
sick  of  the  horrors  of  atheism.  Some  religion  was  demanded 
by  public  feeling.  This  contrivance  had  nothing  in  it  offen- 
sive to  the  sinner,  while  it  seemed  to  be  skilfully  adapted  to 
the  people  and  the  times.  Moreover,  it  was  patronised  by 
government,  and  conformed  to  by  the  learned.  The  cere- 
monies were  well  performed — the  musical  accompaniments 
excellent.  But  all  would  not  do.  No  sooner  had  novelty 
ceased,  than  the  assemblies  were  thinned.  The  trifling 
expenses  of  music  and  apparatus  could  not  be  raised  out  of 
the  liberality  of  the  people.  The  society  was  split  up  with 
lissensions,  some  refusing  the  manual  of  worship ;  others 
complaining  against  the  lecturers  as  aiming  at  too  much 
power  ;  others  demanding  that  the  creed  of  the  society 
should  be  more  liberal  and  allow  a  greater  latitude  of  belief. 
None  at  last  could  be  got  to  lecture.  To  keep  up  the  popular 
interest,  and  to  escape  the  charge  of  bigotry,  religious  festi- 
vals were  appointed,  in  which  a  union  of  service  was 
attempted  to  be  formed  between  Jews,  Protestants,  Catholics, 
Deists,  and  Atheists.  There  were  festivals  in  honour  of 
Socrates,  of  Rousseau,  and  of  Washington.  At  one  of  these 
a  banner  inscribed  with  the  name  Morality  was  carried  by  a 
man  notorious  as  a  professor  of  atheism.  But  all  would  not 
do.  The  great  principle  of  religion  was  wanting.  There 
was  no  devotional  spirit.  The  body  was  dead,  and  therefore 
eoon  tumbled  to  dust.  A  short  time  after,  a  counsellor  of 
France,  in  a  public  address,  declared  the  result  of  the  expe 
riment  in  these  words  :  "  For  want  of  a  religious  education 
for  the  last  ten  years,  our  children  are  without  any  ideas  of  a 


22  LECTURE  I. 

Divinity,  without  any  notion  of  what  is  just  and  unjust ; 
hence  arise  barbarous  manners,  hence  a  people  become  fero- 
cious. Alas !  what  have  we  gained  by  deviating  from  the 
path  pointed  out  by  our  ancestors  ?  What  have  we  gained 
by  substituting  vain  and  abstract  doctrines  for  the  creed 
which  actuated  the  minds  of  Turenne,  Fenelon,  and  Pas- 
cal ?"*  I  cannot  omit,  in  connexion  with  these  striking  con 
fessions,  the  description  given  by  one  of  the  most  famous 
infidels  in  those  times,  of  all  that  class  of  philosophers  whose 
views  and  schemes  we  have  been  noticing.  Thus  writea 
Rousseau :  "  I  have  consulted  ou-r  philosophers,  I  have 
perused  their  books,  I  have  examined  their  several  opinions, 
I  have  found  them  all  proud,  positive,  and  dogmatizing  even 
in  their  pretended  scepticism,  knowing  every  thing,  proving 
nothing,  and  ridiculing  one  another ;  and  this  is  the  only 
point  in  which  they  concur,  and  in  which  they  are  right.  If 
you  count  their  number,  each  one  is  reduced  to  himself;  they 
never  unite  but  to  dispute.  I  conceived  that  the  insufficiency 
of  the  human  understanding  was  the  first  cause  of  this  pro- 
digious diversity  of  sentiment,  and  that  pride  was  the  second. 
If  our  philosophers  were  able  to  discover  truth,  which  of  them 
would  interest  himself  about  it  ?  Where  is  the  philosopher 
who  for  his  own  glory  would  not  willingly  deceive  the  whole 
human  race  ?  Where  is  he  who  in  the  secret  of  his  heart 
proposes  any  other  object  than  his  own  distinction  1  The 
great  thing  for  him  is  to  think  differently  from  other  people. 
Under  pretence  of  being  themselves  the  only  people  enlight- 
ened, they  imperiously  subject  us  to  their  magisterial  decisions, 
and  would  fain  palm  upon  us,  for  the  true  causes  of  things, 
the  unintelligible  systems  they  have  erected  in  their  own 
heads.  Whilst  they  overturn,  destroy,  and  trample  under  foot, 
all  that  mankind  reveres ;  snatch  from  the  afflicted  the  only 


*  For  more  particulars,  see  Alexander's  Evidences — Dwight's  Sernuns 
I  191. 


LECTURE  I.  23 

comfort  left  them  in  their  misery ;  from  the  rich  and  great 
the  only  curb  that  can  restrain  their  passions ;  tear  from  the 
heart  all  remorse  of  vice,  all  hopes  of  virtue ;  and  still  boast 
themselves  the  benefactors  of  mankind.  '  Truth,'  they  say, 
'is  never  hurtful  to  man.'  I  believe  that  as  well  as  they ;  and 
the  same,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  proof  that  what  they  teach  is 
not  the  truth."*  Such  are  the  singular  expressions  of  a 
noted  infidel,  into  whose  mind  the  truth  sometimes  forced  an 
entrance,  in  spite  of  all  his  levity  of  mind  and  profligacy  of 
life.  They  are  the  confessions  of  one  of  the  chief  actors  in 
the  farce  of  natural  religion,  and  by  leading  us  behind  the 
scenes,  display  in  a  most  impressive  light,  that  if  deism  be 
the  only  substitute  of  Christianity,  we  must  have  no  religion 
or  that  of  Jesus.  So  that,  in  examining  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  we  should  solemnly  feel  that  the  question  before 
us  is  of  no  less  magnitude  than  whether  life  and  immortality 
have  been  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel,  or  they  are  still 
involved  in  deep  and  confounding  darkness ;  whether  Religion 
is  revealed  in  the  Bible,  or  every  thing  on  earth  under  the 
name  of  religion  is  false  and  impotent.  Now,  when  it  is 
considered  what  desolation  would  sweep  at  once  over  all  the 
interests  of  society,  were  the  restraint  of  religion  withdrawn 
from  the  flood-gates  of  human  corruption ;  what  immense 
benefits  have  ensued,  and  must  ensue,  even  by  the  confession 
of  some  of  its  most  violent  opposers,  from  the  diffusion  oi 
the  gospel ;  what  happy  effects  upon  the  character  and  pre- 
sent happiness  of  its  genuine  disciples  it  has  always  pro- 
duced ;  reforming  their  lives,  purifying  their  hearts,  elevating 
their  affections,  healing  the  wounds  of  the  guilty,  taking 
away  the  sting  of  death,  and  lighting  even  the  sepulchre 
with  a  hope  full  of  glory ;  when  it  is  considered  what  high 
claims  the  gospel  asserts  to  an  unlimited  sovereignty  over  all 

*  Gandolphy's  Defence  of  the  Ancient  Faith :  quoted  in  Gregory's  "Let- 
ters, i.,  p.  p.  6  and  7. 


24 


LECTURE  I. 


our  affections  and  faculties,  requiring  our  entire  submission, 
promising  to  every  devout  believer  eternal  life,  and  to  all  that 
refuse  its  claims  everlasting  wo :  it  must  at  once  be  evident 
that  the  subject  before  us  is  no  matter  of  mere  intellectual 
interest,  but  one  in  which  every  expectant  of  eternity  has  an 
immeasurable  stake.  No  mind  has  any  right  to  indifference 
here.  Without  the  most  wonderful  folly  no  mind  can  be 
indifferent  here.  Whether  the  claims  of  the  gospel  are  the 
claims  of  God  is  a  question  to  which  in  point  of  importance 
no  other  can  pretend  a  comparison,  except  this  one — Believ- 
ing in  those  claims,  am  I  surrendered  to  their  governance  7 
But  I  speak  to  a  great  many  who  have  no  difficulty  on  this 
head,  being  fully  satisfied  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  a  divine 
revelation.  What  concern  have  they  with  the  investigation 
before  us  ?  "  Much  every  way."  The  question  for  them  to 
ask,  is,  on  what  grounds  are  we  satisfied  ?  Are  we  believers 
in  Christianity  because  we  were  born  of  believing  parents, 
and  have  always  lived  in  a  Christian  country  ;  or  because 
we  have  considered  the  excellence  and  weighed  the  proofs  of 
this  religion,  and  are  intelligently  persuaded  that  it  de- 
serves our  reliance  ?  I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  many 
truly  devoted  followers  of  Christ  who  have  never  made 
the  evidences  of  Christianity  their  study,  and  in  argument 
with  an  infidel,  would  be  easily  confounded  by  superior  skill 
and  information  ;  but  whose  belief  nevertheless  is,  in  the 
highest  degree,  that  of  rational  conviction,  since  they  possess 
in  themselves  the  best  of  all  evidence  that  the  gospel  of 
Christ  is  "  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God,"  having  experi- 
enced its  transforming,  purifying,  elevating,  and  enlightening 
efficacy  upon  their  own  hearts  and  characters.  Did  such 
believers  abound,  Christianity  would  be  much  less  in  need  of 
other  evidence.  Were  all. that  call  themselves  Christians 
thus  experimentally  convinced  of  the  preciousness  of  the 
gospel,  I  would  still  urge  upon  them  the  duty  and  advantage 
if  studying  as  far  as  possible  the  various  arguments  which 


LECTURE  I.  /SO 

illustrate  the  divinity  of  its  origin.  I  would  urge  it  on  con- 
siderations of  personal  pleasure  and  spiritual  improvement. 
There  is  a  rich  feast  of  knowledge  and  of  devout  contempla- 
tion to  be  found  in  this  study.  The  serious  believer,  who  has 
not  pursued  it,  has  yet  to  learn  with  what  wonderful  and 
impressive  light  the  God  of  the  gospel  has  manifested  its 
truth.  Its  evidences  are  not  only  convincing,  but  delight- 
fully plain ;  astonishingly  accumulated,  and  of  immense 
variety,  as  well  as  strength.  He  who  will  take  the  pains 
not  only  to  pursue  the  single  line  of  argument  which  may 
seem  enough  to  satisfy  his  own  mind ;  but  devoutly  to  follow 
up,  in  succession,  all  those  great  avenues  which  lead  to  the 
gospel  as  the  central  fountain  of  truth,  will  be  presented,  at 
every  step,  with  such  evident  marks  of  the  finger  of  God ; 
he  will  hear  from  every  quarter  such  reiterated  assurances  of: 
"  this  is  the  way ;  walk  thou  in  it  /'  he  will  find  himself  so 
enclosed  on  every  hand  by  insurmountable  evidences  shut- 
ting him  up  unto  the  faith  of  Christ,  that  new  views  will 
open  upon  him  of  the  real  cause  and  guilt  and  danger  of  all 
unbelief ;  new  emotions  of  gratitude  and  admiration  will 
arise  in  his  heart  for  a  revelation  so  divinely  attested ;  his 
zeal  will  receive  a  new  impulse  to  follow  and  promote  such 
heavenly  light. 

But  I  would  urge  this  study  on  all  serious  believers,  who 
have  the  means  of  pursuing  it,  as  a  matter  of  duty.  It  is 
not  enough  that  they  are  well  satisfied.  They  have  a  cause 
to  defend  and  promote,  as  well  as  a  faith  to  love  and  enjoy. 
[t  is  enjoined  on  them,  by  the  authority  of  their  Divine, 
Master,  that  they  be  ready  to  give  to  every  man  that  asketh 
them,  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them.  They  must  be 
able  to  answer  intelligently  the  question :  Why  do  you  believe 
in  Christianity  ?  For  this  purpose,  it  is  not  enough  to  be 
able  to  speak  of  a  sense  of  the  truth,  arising  from  an  inward 
experience  of  its  power  and  blessedness.  This  is  excellent 
evidence  for  one's  own  mind  ;  but  it  cannot  be  felt  or  under 

2* 


LECTURE  I. 


stood  by  an  unbeliever.  The  Christian  advocate  must  have 
a  knowledge  of  the  arguments  by  which  infidelity  may  be 
confounded ;  as  well  as  an  experience  of  the  benefits  for 
which  the  gospel  should  be  loved.  To  obtain  this  in  pro- 
portion to  his  abilities,  he  is  bound  by  the  all-important  con- 
sideration that  the  religion  of  Jesus  cannot  be  content  while 
one  soul  remains  in  the  rejection  of  her  light  and  life.  She 
seeks  not  only  to  be  maintained,  but  to  bring  all  mankind  to 
her  blessings.  The  benevolence  of  a  Christian  should  stimu- 
late him  to  be  well  armed  for  the  controversy  with  unbe- 
lievers. Benevolence,  while  it  should  consjtrain  the  infidel 
most  carefully  to  conceal  his  opinions  lest  others  be  so 
unhappy  as  to  feel  their  ague  and  catch  their  blight,  should 
invigorate  the  believer  with  the  liveliest  zeal  to  bring  over 
his  fellow-creatures  to  the  adoption  of  a  faith  so  glorious  in 
its  hopes  and  so  ennobling  in  its  influence.  Even  on  the 
supposition  that  Christianity  were  false,  unspeakably  better 
should  we  think  it,  to  be  deluded  by  consolations  which, 
though  groundless,  would  be  still  so  precious  ;  than  enlight' 
ened  by  an  infidelity  which  shrouds  its  disciples  in  such 
darkness,  and  drowns  them  in  such  confusion. 

But  if  such  are  the  weighty  considerations  which  should 
induce  an  experienced  Christian  to  study  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  while  he  carries  in  his  own  breast  the  strongest 
of  all  assurances  of  its  having  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  how  much  more  should  this  subject  receive  the  attention 
of  that  numerous  portion  of  the  population  of  a  Christian 
land  who,  while  they  are  called  Christians,  have  never  expe- 
rienced in  their  hearts  the  blessedness  of  the  gospel.  These 
are  eminently  dependent  on  this  study  for  all  rational  and 
steadfast  belief.  Being  destitute  of  the  anchor  obtained  by 
ail  inward  sense  of  the  divine  excellence  of  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus,  they  must  spread  their  sails  to  the  influence  of 
external  evidence,  or  be  liable  to  be  tossed  about  with  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  and  wrecked  against  the  cliffs  of  infidelity 


LECTURE  I.  27 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  that  the  attention  of  this 
class  should  be  much  more  extensively  obtained  to  the  proofs 
of  the  religion  in  which  they  profess  to  believe.  Multitudes 
of  men,  well  informed  on  other  subjects,  are  believers,  for 
hardly  any  other  reason  than  because  their  parents  were  so, 
and  the  fashion  of  society  is  on  this  side.  The  same  con- 
siderations that  make  them  Christians  in  this  land,  would 
have  made  them  enemies  of  Christianity  in  others :  Pagans 
in  India,  Mohammedans  in  Turkey.  They  can  give  a  better 
reason  for  every  other  opinion  they  profess,  than  for  their 
acknowledgment  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  efforts  of 
infidels,  combining  ingenious  sophistry  with  high  preten 
sions  to  learning,  and  coming  into  alliance  with  strong  dis- 
positions of  human  nature,  have  an  open  field,  and  must  be 
expected  to  do  a  fearful  work  among  minds  thus  undisci- 
plined and  unarmed.  It  is  only  in  the  lowest  possible  sense 
of  the  word  that  they  can  receive  the  name  of  believers, 
Instead  of  adding  strength  to  the  cause  of  Christianity,  by 
their  numbers,  they  rather  embarrass  it  by  their  ignorance 
of  its  weapons,  and  bring  it  into  disrepute  by  the  ease  with 
which  they  are  entrapped  in  the  snares  of  the  enemy.  They 
have  no  conception  what  a  truth  that  is  which  they  so  care- 
lessly acknowledge ;  how  impressively  it  is  true  ;  with  what 
awful  authority  it  is  invested ;  what  a  wonder  is  involved  in 
professing  to  believe  and  refusing  to  obey  it.  Do  I  speak  to 
any  who  are  thus  situated?  I  would  earnestly  exhort  them, 
for  their  own  satisfaction  and  steadfastness  as  believers  in 
revelation,  for  the  purpose  of  realizing  how  solemnly  the 
living  God  has  called  them  to  submit  as  well  as  assent,  to 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  for  the  honour  of  a  religion  which 
so  abounds  in  the  best  of  reasons,  to  make  a  serious  study  of 
the  evidences  of  Christianity. 

To  any  whose  minds  are  not  settled  with  regard  to  this 
momentous  question ;  or  who  consider  themselves  as  having 
arrived  at  a  definite  opinion  against  the  divine  authority  ot 


28  LECTURE  I. 

the  gospel,  need  I  say  a  word  to  show  why  they,  of  all  others, 
should  give  the  subject  in  view  their  most  serious  and  dili- 
gent attention  ?  Suppose  they  should  become  fixed  in  the 
rejection  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  influence  of  their  exam- 
ple on  the  side  of  infidelity,  should  add  the  effort  of  argument, 
tending  to  weaken  the  faith  of  others,  and  to  increase  the 
number  of  enemies  to  Christ ;  and  finally,  should  be  con- 
vinced on  the  verge  of  the  grave  (as  many  of  this  mind  have 
been  most  painfully  convinced,)  or  in  eternity,  should  have 
it  discovered  to  them  that  what  they  have  been  setting  at 
nought  was  no  less  than  God's  own  revelation,  the  gospel  of 
him  who  cometh  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead ;  and  that 
what  they  had  embraced,  and  led  others  to  embrace,  in  its 
stead,  was  only  a  miserable  offspring  of  human  pride  and 
folly,  a  spirit  of  delusion  and  eternal  destruction  ;  what  then 
would  seem  the  importance  of  a  serious  application  of  mind 
and  heart  to  this  study ;  the  madness  of  treating  it  with  in- 
difference, or  pursuing  it  without  the  strictest  impartiality  ? 
That  such  a  discovery  is  at  least  as  likely  as  the  contrary, 
even  infidels,  in  their  continual  declarations  that  all  beyond 
the  grave  is  unknown,  have  given  impressive  confessions. 
That  it  is  at  least  exceedingly  probable,  independently  of 
positive  evidence,  the  unbeliever  cannot  but  fear  when  he 
surveys  the  history  of  the  world,  and  sees  what  minds  and 
what  hearts,  what  men  of  learning  and  of  holiness  have  been 
ready  to  suffer  any  earthly  loss  or  pain,  rather  than  be  unas- 
sociated  with  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  discipleship  of 
Christ. 

I  have  now  exhibited  something  of  the  incomparable  im- 
portance of  the  question  before  us,  as  considered  by  itself. 
There  is  an  additional  importance  in  its  present  investiga- 
tion, arising  out  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  present 
times. 

We  rejoice  with  others  in  the  belief  that  this  age,  in  com- 
parison with  all  before  it,  merits  distinction  as  an  age  of  free- 


LECTURE    I.  2S 

dom.  We  rejoice  that  it  is  an  age  of  freedom,  as  well  in  the 
investigation  of  all  truth  as  in  the  assertion  of  all  political 
rights.  But  what  is  called  the  spirit  of  freedom  is  not  every 
where  identical  with  the  cause  of  truth  and  right.  In  one 
region,  it  is  the  calm,  deliberate  determination  to  be  governed 
only  by  just  and  equal  laws ;  in  another,  it  is  the  furious, 
desolating  despiser  of  all  laws,  but  those  of  one's  own  pas- 
sion and  selfishness.  This  is  seen,  as  well  in  the  discussion 
of  religious  truth,  as  in  the  vindication  of  assumed  principles 
of  civil  liberty.  There  are  certain  just  and  necessary  laws 
to  govern  us  in  reasoning,  as  much  as  in  acting  ;  to  regulate 
the  investigation  of  moral  and  religious,  as  well  as  physical 
and  political  subjects.  True  liberty  of  mind  consists  in  the 
right  of  being  governed  by  these  laws,  and  no  other  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  asserts  their  absolute  necessity.  But  there  is  a 
spirit  abroad  which,  under  the  name  of  freedom  of  opinion, 
would  set  at  defiance  all  the  fundamental  laws  of  reasoning; 
and  denounce,  as  the  oifspring  of  intellectual  despotism, 
whatever  principles  of  moral  evidence  are  at  variance  with 
itself.  This  is  licentiousness ;  not  freedom.  It  is  the  enemy 
of  law,  not  of  oppression:  the  very  menial  of  mental  degra- 
dation, instead  of  what  it  boasts  itself,  the  prompter  of  manly, 
elevated,  independent  intellect.  This  spirit  of  evil  is  greatly 
on  the  increase,  because  the  name  and  boast  of  freedom  are 
circulating  far  more  rapidly  in  this  world,  than  the  know- 
ledge of  its  character  or  the  possession  of  its  blessings ;  be- 
cause it  is  so  much  easier  for  the  mass  of  society  to  burst  at 
once  the  whole  body  of  law  by  which  mind  is  restrained, 
than  to  separate  between  the  precious  and  the  vile;  and 
chiefly  because  with  the  many,  there  is  too  little  reflection 
and  too  little  moral  principle,  when  religion  is  in  question, 
to  appreciate  the  important  difference  between  the  oppression 
of  opinion  in  matters  of  reason,  and  the  just  government  oi 
reason  in  matters  of  opinion.  Nothing,  in  truth,  has  so  pro- 
moted the  freedom  of  thought,  of  opinion,  and  of  action,  as 


30 


LECTURE  I. 


Christianity.  If  any  thing,  under  her  name,  has  been  guilty 
of  the  opposite,  it  has  been,  so  far  forth,  the  corruption  of 
her  character  and  the  denial  of  her  principles.  Pure  Chris- 
tianity has  ever  proclaimed  liberty  to  the  captive,  as  well  in 
mental  as  in  physical  slavery.  The  ages  of  the  purest 
freedom  have  been  those  of  her  greatest  advancement.  She 
courts  investigation  when  it  is  .free;  but  rejects  it  when 
licentious.  She  is  the  patroness  of  law,  and  will  be  judged 
only  by  law.  Bring  her  trial  to  the  judgment  seat  of  that 
inductive  philosophy  which  one  of  her  own  children  first 
illustrated,  and  which,  on  other  subjects,  the  world  has 
learned  to  use  so  well  and  prize  so  highly :  let  her  be  judged 
by  the  evidence  of  fact,  and  she  is  satisfied.  But  this  reason- 
able privilege  it  is  more  than  ever  the  spirit  of  self  constituted 
philosophers,  in  their  loud  declamation  against  the  slavery  of 
opinion,  and  their  licentious  rebellion  against  all  the  laws  of 
reasoning,  to  refuse.  Hence  the  greater  importance  that  our 
present  subject,  in  all  its  departments,  from  the  most  funda- 
mental principles  of  evidence,  to  the  highest  point  of  induct- 
ive argument,  should  be  thoroughly  studied  by  all  whose 
interest  it  is  to  know,  and  whose  duty  it  is  to  vindicate,  the 
truth. 

But  there  is  one  more  consideration,  in  connexion  with 
the  present  age,  illustrating  the  peculiar  importance  of  the 
study  you  are  now  commencing.  The  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, while  specially  assailed,  in  these  times,  with  a  licen- 
tiousness and  effrontery  which  the  dignity  of  no  truth  can 
countenance,  and  the  chastity  of  religious  truth  should  never 
meet,  are  favoured,  at  the  same  tune,  with  advantages  for 
convincing  illustration  such  as  no  preceding  -age  ever  fur- 
nished. Time,  while  it  has  impaired  the  strength  of  none  of 
our  ancient  arguments,  has  greatly  increased  the  weight  of 
some,  and  has  added,  and  is  daily  adding,  new  auxiliaries  to 
a  body  of  proof  which  its  enemies  have  never  ventured  to 
attack  in  front.  Every  new  year,  in  the  age  and  trials  of  our 


LECTURE  I.  31 

holy  faith,  is  an  additional  evidence  that,  like  the  pyramids 
of  Memphis,  it  was  made  to  endure.  It  wears  well.  Chris- 
tianity has  been  journeying,  for  the  last  eighteen  hundred 
years,  through  unceasing  trials.  While  as  yet  an  infant  in 
a  land  of  almost  Egyptian  darkness,  a  Jewish  Pharaoh 
attempted  to  strangle  her  in  the  cradle.  She  grew  up  in 
contempt  and  poverty,  and  began  her  course,  like  Israel  of 
old,  through  a  Red  Sea  of  relentless  persecution.  Bitter 
waters  awaited  her  subsequent  progress.  Amalek  with  all 
the  principalities  and  powers  of  earth,  during  more  than 
three  centuries,  opposed  her  march.  Fiery  serpents  in  the 
wilderness  of  sin  have  ever  been  stinging  at  her  feet.  The 
world  has  opened  no  fountain,  nor  vouchsafed  any  bread  to 
sustain  her.  What  alliances  the  nations  have  ever  made 
with  her  cause  have  only  given  them  the  greater  power  to 
encumber  and  divide  her  strength.  Her  drink  has  been 
drawn  from  the  rock ;  her  bread  has  been  gathered  in  the 
desert.  Nothing  that  malice,  or  learning,  or  power,  or  per- 
severance, could  do  to  arrest  her  goings,  has  been  wanting. 
Even  treachery  in  her  own  household  has  often  endea- 
voured to  betray  her  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  No  age 
has  encountered  her  advance  with  such  a  dangerous  variety 
of  force ;  or  with  a  more  boastful  confidence  of  success,  than 
the  present.  And  yet  in  none,  since  that  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  has  her  triumph  been  so  glorious,  or  her  conquest 
so  extensive.  At  a  time  of  life  when,  considering  her  fiery 
trials,  one  ignorant  of  her  nature  would  expect  to  see  her 
wrinkled  with  age  and  crippled  with  manifold  infirmities,  it 
may  be  said  of  her,  with  perfect  truth,  that  though  for  more 
than  eighteen  hundred  years  she  has  been  journeying  through 
conflicts  and  trials  innumerable,  her  eye  is  not  dim,  nor  her 
natural  force  abated.  She  remains  unchanged  by  time,  the 
same  precisely  as  when  first  proclaimed  in  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem.  The  shield  of  faith,  the  breastplate  of  righteous- 
ness, the  helmet  of  salvation,  the  sword  of  the  spirit  are 


32  LECTURE   I. 

neither  oroken  nor  decayed,  but  as  ready  as  in  the  begin- 
ning, to  go  forth  "  conquering  and  to  conquer."  This  long 
and  hard  experiment  proves  that  she  is  made  for  eternity, 
It  is  the  privilege  of  our  age  to  appreciate  the  evidence  of 
this  with  more  satisfaction  than  any  preceding  it.  But  how 
different,  this  sublime  immutability  of  Christianity,  so  much 
like  the  eternity  of  God,  from  the  childish  fickleness  of  inn. 
delity.  What  is  the  history  of  infidelity,  but  a  history  ol 
changes  ?  Where  is  the  resemblance  between  the  writings 
of  its  modern  and  those  of  its  ancient  disciples  ?  What 
Celsus  and  Porphyry  attempted  to  maintain  against  primi 
tive  Christianity,  none  at  present  wouid  think  of  advocating, 
while  the  positions  and  reasonings  of  recent  infidels  would 
have  been  subjects  of  ridicule  among  their  earliest  brethren. 
"  The  doctrines  winch  Herbert  and  Tindal  declared  to  be  so 
evident  that  God  could  not  make  them  more  evident,  were 
wholly  given  up  as  untenable  by  Hume ;  and  the  scepticism 
of  Hume  sustained  no  higher  character  in  the  mind  of 
D'Alembert.  Mere  infidelity  gave  up  natural  religion,  and 
atheism  mere  infidelity.  Atheism  is  the  system  at  present  in 
vogue.  What  will  succeed  it,  cannot  be  foreseen.  One 
consolation,  however,  attends  the  subject,  and  that  is:  no 
other  system  can  be  so  groundless,  so  despicable,  or  so  com- 
pletely ruinous  to  the  morals  and  happiness  of  mankind."* 

But  there  is  another  aspect  in  which  the  study  of  the 
evidences  of  Christianity  is  presented  as  especially  interesting, 
in  connexion  with  the  present  age.  This  is  an  age  pe- 
culiarly distinguished  for  scientific  research  and  discovery. 
Never  did  science  travel  so  widely,  explore  so  deeply,  analyze 
so  minutely,  compare  so  critically  the  present  with  the  past, 
orinciples  with  facts  ;  histories  of  ancient  times,  with  monu- 
ments of  ancient  things ;  truths  of  revealed  religion,  with 
results  of  experimental  philosophy.  And  what  is  the  con- 

*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 


LECTURE     I.  00 

sequence  ?  Has  the  Pentateuch  suffered  by  him  who  found 
the  key,  and  applied  it  to  the  hieroglyphical  memorials  on  the 
marbles  and  porphyries  of  Egypt?  Did  the  geological 
researches  of  the  lamented  Cuvier  enfeeble  his  belief  in  the 
Mosaic  history?* 

I  venture  to  say  there  never  was  an  age  in  which  it  could 
be  asserted,  with  so  much  practical  witness,  that  science  and 
every  extension  of  human  knowledge  are  strengthening  and 
multiplying  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Add  to  this,  the 
ever  accumulating  force  of  the  argument  from  prophecy,  a 
source  of  evidence  in  which  we  exceed  by  far  the  primitive 
times  of  the  gospel,  and  which  must  be  increasing  as  long  as 
one  prediction  of  the  Bible  remains  to  be  fulfilled.  Then 
consider  what  new  exhibitions  the  present  age  of  signal 
enterprise,  in  all  things,  has  furnished,  and  is  daily  presenting 
of  the  power  attendant  upon  the  gospel  to  overcome  every 
obstacle,  and  make  the  moral  desert  a  garden,  and  savages 
meek  and  lowly  of  heart.  Look  at  the  missionary  stations 
of  the  Pacific  and  of  Hindoostan,  and  among  our  own  frontier 
tribes.  There  it  will  be  seen  that  Christianity  has  still  her 
apostles,  her  martyrs,  her  conquests.  The  idol  cast  to  the 
ground ;  the  idol  temple  purged  of  its  pollutions,  and  conse- 
crated to  Jehovah ;  the  multitude,  once  naked  devotees  of 
demons,  now  clothed  and  in  their  right  mind,  and  sitting  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus ;  these  are  some  of  our  additional  testimonies 
to  the  gospel,  that  her  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save. 
But  they  are  not  all.  Every  new  traveller  into  regions 
hitherto  but  little  known,  as  he  developes  the  condition  of 
nations  destitute  of  the  gospel,  increases  our  evidence  of  the 
utter  helplessness  of  human  reason,  and  the  total  prostration 

*  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  well  worthy  of  being  recorded,  that  Cuvier, 
whose  death  has  been  recently  announced,  was  to  have  presided  at  the  next 
annual  meeting  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Paris ;  and  had  proposed,  as  the  topic 
of  his  address,  the  agreement  between  the  Mosaic  history  and  the  modein  dis 
coveries  in  geology. 

9 


34 


LECTURE  I. 


of  human  nature,  without  the  light  which  we  enjoy,  and 
consequently,  our  evidence  of  the  universal  need  of  a  reve- 
lation like  ours,  as  well  as  of  the  benefits  which  have  follow 
ed  in  the  train  of  Christianity  wherever  she  has  been  re- 
ceived. And  last,  but  not  least,  our  experience  of  the  tender 
mercies  of  infidelity  is  more  impressive  than  that  of  prece- 
ding ages.  Its  nature,  spirit,  personal  and  public  consequen- 
ces have  now  had  time  to  speak  out,  and  make  a  full  display 
of  their  benefits  to  all  classes  of  mankind.  Our  times  have 
seen  enough ;  any  of  us  have  heard  enough  to  form  some 
adequate  idea  of  what  society  would  be  favoured  with,  in 
personal  consolations ;  in  domestic  peace  and  purity ;  in  pub- 
lic security  and  order,  should  the  principles  of  infidelity  be 
generally  adopted  as  the  basis  of  individual,  family,  and  na- 
tional government. 

I  have  now  endeavoured  to  illustrate  the  importance  of  a 
diligent  attention  to  the  great  subject  we  have  undertaken  to 
treat,  by  considerations  arising  out  of  its  own  intrinsic  nature, 
and  from  its  special  aspect  as  associated  with  the  distinctive 
character  of  the  present  age.  I  will  occupy  but  a  little  while 
longer  in  speaking  of, 

II.  The  importance  of  strict  attention  to  the  spirit  in 
which  we  should  examine  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 

"  Blessed  (said  the  Saviour)  is  he  whosoever  shall  not  be 
offended  in  me."  There  is  a  great  deal  in  the  religion  of 
Jesus  at  which  the  natural  dispositions  of  man  are  offended. 
He  is  proud — the  gospel  demands  humility ;  revengeful — the 
gospel  demands  forgiveness.  Man  is  prone  to  set  his  affec 
tions  on  things  on  the  earth ;  the  gospel  requires  him  to  set 
them  on  those  which  are  above.  He  is  wedded  to  selt- 
indulgence,  glories  in  being  his  own  master,  idolizes  himself, 
encourages  self-dependence,  boasts  his  own  goodness,  lives 
without  God  in  the  world.  All  this  the  gospel  peremptorily 
condemns ;  requires  him  to  repent  of  it,  to  deny  himself, 
renounce  all  right  over  himself,  give  up  his  will  to  that  of 


LECTURE    I.  35 

Gi.d,  live  for  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  lean  upon  and  glory  in  him 
alone  as  all  his  strength,  hope,  and  righteousness.  Hence  it 
is  evident  that  the  natural  heart  and  the  precepts  of  Chris- 
tianity are  directly  at  variance.  "  The  mystery  of  an  incar- 
nate and  crucified  Saviour  must  necessarily  confound  the 
reason  and  shock  the  prejudices,  of  a  mind  which  will  admit 
nothing  that  it  cannot  perfectly  reduce  to  the  principles  of 
philosophy.  The  whole  tenor  of  the  life  of  Christ,  the 
objects  he  pursued,  and  the  profound  humiliation  he  exhi- 
bited, must  convict  of  madness  and  folly  the  favourite  pur- 
suits of  mankind.  The  virtues  usually  practised  in  society, 
and  the  models  of  excellence  most  admired  there,  are  so 
remote  from  that  holiness  which  is  enjoined  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, that  it  is  impossible  for  a  taste  which  is  formed  on  the 
one  to  perceive  the  charms  of  the  other.  The  happiness 
which  it  proposes  in  a  union  with  God,  and  a  participation 
of  the  image  of  Christ,  is  so  far  from  being  congenial  to  the 
inclinations  of  worldly  men,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  men- 
tioned without  exciting  their  ridicule  and  scorn.  General 
speculations  on  the  Deity  have  much  to  amuse  the  mind,  and 
to  gratify  that  appetite  for  the  wonderful,  which  thoughtful 
and  speculative  men  are  delighted  to  indulge.  Religion 
viewed  in  this  light  appears  more  in  the  form  of  an  exercise 
to  the  understanding,  than  a  law  to  the  heart.  Here  the  soul 
expatiates  at  large,  without  feeling  itself  controlled  or  alarmed. 
But  when  evangelical  truths  are  presented,  they  bring  God 
so  near,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  and  speak  with 
so  commanding  a  voice  to  the  conscience,  that  they  leave  no 
alternative,  but  that  of  submissive  acquiescence  or  proud 
revolt."* 

Hence  the  question  as  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  pecu 
liar,     You  can  investigate  the  truth  of  a  narrative  in  com- 

*  Robert  Hall 


36 


LECTURE    I. 


mon  history,  or  of  a  phenomenon  in  physical  science,  or  of 
a  principle  of  political  economy,  with  the  coolness  of  a  mere 
intellectual  exercise.  One  sets  out  in  such  pursuits  with  no 
feelings  already  enlisted.  Had  this  been  the  case,  with  regard 
to  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  "  a  tenth  part  of  the  tes- 
timony which  has  actually  been  given,  would  have  been 
enough  to  satisfy  us;  the  testimony,  both  in  weight  and 
quantity,  would  have  been  looked  upon  as  quite  unexampled 
in  the  whole  compass  of  ancient  literature."*  But  here  the 
question  is  one  of  feeling,  as  well  as  evidence  ;  enlisting  the 
heart,  as  well  as  the  head.  Powerful  dispositions  crowd 
around  the  investigation.  Hence  one  is  in  danger,  unless 
his  natural  inclinations  be  subdued,  of  looking  at  the  argu- 
ment through  a  medium  which,  while  it  diminishes  the 
importance  of  the  evidence,  will  magnify  the  objections. 
This  explains  sufficiently  how  it  has  happened  that  there 
have  been  men  of  learning  and  talents  and  much  practical 
wisdom,  in  many  departments,  who  have  become  and  con- 
tinued unbelievers.  Their  dispositions  were  stronger  than 
their  talents,  and  moulded  the  latter  to  their  own  service, 
instead  of  yielding  to  their  guidance.  The  examination 
was  conducted  rather  by  the  test  of  inclination,  than  of 
evidence.  Now  it  is  no  part  of  the  profession  of  Christianity 
to  furnish  eyes  to  those  who  will  not  see.  Evidence  that 
will  force  its  way  irresistibly  through  prejudice  and  unwil- 
lingness, compelling  submission,  she  does  not  promise. 
Enough  to  satisfy,  abundantly,  every  candid,  serious,  dili- 
gent, humble  inquirer,  she  does  profess  to  give.  If  she  ever 
exhibit  more,  it  is  beyond  her  stipulation,  and  more  than  any 
have  reason  to  demand. 

The  pride  of  human  reason  is  often  deeply  offended  at 
the  claims  of  Christianity.  The  gospel  demands  to  l>e 
received  as  a  revelation  of  truth,  communicated  by  autho- 

*  Chalmers. 


LECTURE  I.  37 

nty,  so  that  a  wise  man  shall  have  no  room  to  ascribe  his 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  His  will,  to  his  own  powers  of 
discovery ;  but  has  to  sit,  just  where  the  ignorant  and  lowly 
must  sit,  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  This  pleases  not  the  specula- 
tive and  ambitious  turn  of  the  human  intellect.  Men  like  to 
find  out  truth  by  reasonings  of  their  own,  instead  of  the 
authoritative  declarations  of  another,  even  though  that  other 
be  infallible  wisdom.  They  love  to  theorize  and  conjecture, 
and  try  the  ingenuity  of  their  own  faculties,  so  as  to  praise 
themselves  for  whatever  is  ascertained.  Hence,  in  matters 
of  science,  there  was  a  long  and  hard  struggle  before  they 
could  be  brought  down  from  the  proud  flights  of  speculation, 
and  consent  to  the  self-denial  of  the  inductive  method,  sub- 
mitting to  be  instructed  only  by  the  revelations  of  experiment, 
and  in  the  unpretending  school  of  fact.  To  adopt  the  same 
method  in  matters  of  religious  investigation,  many  are  not 
yet  willing.  To  give  up  all  speculation — philosophy,  "  falsely 
so  called" — and  consent  to  receive,  instead  of  being  ambitious 
to  discover,  religious  truth ;  to  receive  it  at  a  source  where 
the  humblest  and  the  loftiest  mind  must  drink  together,  out 
of  the  same  cup ;  to  receive  it  on  the  simple  testimony  of  a 
well  attested  revelation,  which  lies  as  open  to  the  peasant  as 
the  philosopher :  this  the  wise  men  of  the  world  are  slow  of 
heart  to  consent  to.  Their  pride  of  reason  is  offended.  Did 
an  account  come  to  them  from  the  other  continent  of  certain 
novel  and  interesting  phenomena  recently  observed  in  the 
heavens;  they  would  see  at  once  how  unphilosophical  it 
would  be  to  commence  theorizing  upon  the  question  of  their 
truth,  and  then  reject  them  because  inconsistent  with  certain 
previous  speculations  of  their  own.  They  would  institute 
but  the  one  inquiry:  Is  there  reason  to  depend  upon  the 
accuracy  of  the  observations,  and  the  honesty  of  the  reports 
of  those  from  whom  these  statements  proceed  ?  Satisfied  on 
this  head,  they  would  at  once  receive  the  phenomena,  and 
every  truth  resulting  therefrom,  on  the  great  principle  o' 


LECTURE  I. 


modern  science,  that  whatever  is  thus  collected  by  induction 
must  be  received,  notwithstanding-  any  conjectural  hypothesis 
to  the  contrary,  until  contradicted  or  limited  by  other  phe- 
nomena equally  authenticated.  Now  we  only  ask  them,  not 
to  disown  the  philosophy  of  Newton  in  examining  the  evi- 
dence of  the  religion  of  Christ ;  to  try  the  celestial  wonders, 
the  " mecanique  celeste"  as  given  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
not  by  theory  or  speculation,  but  precisely  as  they  would  try 
any  other,  in  the  open  field  of  fact  and  induction.  We  do 
not  ask  them  to  believe,  unless  upon  the  credit  of  facts.  But 
we  do  ask  that  whatever  is  thus  proved,  they  will  receive, 
notwithstanding  any  conjectural  hypothesis  to  the  contrary. 
The  whole  argument  for  Christianity,  so  far  from  being  in 
any  degree  theoretical  or  speculative,  is  eminently  one  of 
experimental  evidence  and  inductive  simplicity.  We  take 
the  position  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  professed  to  make  a 
revelation  from  God.  It  is  conceded  that  if  he  attested  his 
communications  by  miracles,  he  sealed  that  profession  as 
true.  We  say  he  did  thus  attest  them.  But  miracles  are 
facts — phenomena — to  be  proved  by  the  testimony  of  eye- 
witnesses, like  any  phenomena  in  physics.  To  such  testi- 
mony we  appeal.  We  ask  the  unbeliever  to  refute  it ;  and 
if  he  cannot,  to  receive  the  revelation,  and  bow  to  its  decla- 
rations as  the  attested  word  of  God.  But  here,  unfortunately, 
we  set  the  rule  of  sound  philosophy  against  the  dispositions 
of  an  unhumbled  heart.  The  latter  has  the  victory,  often ; 
and  the  wise  man  goes  to  work  to  oppose  our  facts,  with  his 
theories ;  our  testimony,  with  his  speculations,  till  he  flatters 
himself,  because  he  has  covered  up  his  eyes  in  his  own 
mazes,  that  he  has  refuted  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 
Hence,  therefore,  another  cause  that  learned  men  are  not  all 
believers  in  Christianity.  They  are  not  all  humble  enough, 
in  a  question  with  which  heart  and  life  are  so  much  con- 
nected, to  abide  by  the  results  to  which  the  principles  of  phi 
losophical  investigation  would  naturally  lead  them.  But 


LECTURE  I.  39 

hence,  also,  a  most  important  reason  that  whoever  of  you 
may  have  doubts  as  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  should,  in  the 
pursuit  on  which  we  have  entered,  be  cautious,  candid,  ready 
to  learn,  and  determined  to  embrace  the  truth  wherever  it 
should  be  found. 

One  consideration  more.  It  is  true  of  Christianity,  as  of 
many  other  excellent  subjects,  that  objections  are  more  easily 
invented  than  answered.  Objections  in  such  matters  are 
usually  light  affairs,  floating  on  the  surface  of  men's  thoughts. 
Answers,  to  be  solid,  must  be  heavier  and  lie  deeper,  requiring 
like  the  pearl,  both  labour  and  skill  to  bring  them  up  and 
fashion  them  for  use.  But  Christianity  is  peculiarly  exposed 
to  objections ;  from  the  simple  fact  that  as  it  meets  every 
body  and  compels  every  body  to  say  yea  or  nay  to  its  require- 
ments, every  body  must  needs  have  something  to  say,  how- 
ever unreasonable,  in  its  favour  or  against  it.  Few  indeed 
would  venture  to  give  an  opinion,  without  some  study,  on  a 
question  in  science  or  polite  literature ;  but  the  most  ignorant 
and  unthinking  will  undertake  an  opinion  upon  the  merits 
of  the  gospel,  and  raise  an  objection  in  a  breath  which  would 
require  much  patience  and  some  learning  to  refute.  Hun- 
dreds hear  the  objection  ;  thousands  relish,  retain,  and  are  poi- 
soned by  it ;  while,  perhaps,  not  one  of  them  has  the  dispo- 
sition to  hear,  or  patience  enough  to  understand,  the  reply. 
Evil  hearts  can  do  what  only  good  and  well  instructed  minds 
can  undo.  "  Pertness  and  ignorance  may  ask  a  question,  in 
three  lines,  which  it  will  cost  learning  and  ingenuity  thirty 
pages  to  answer.  When  this  is  done,  the  same  question  will 
be  triumphantly  asked  again  the  next  year,  as  if  nothing 
had  ever  been  written  on  the  subject.  And  as  people,  in 
general,  for  one  reason  or  another,  like  short  objections  better 
than  long  answers  ;  in  this  mode  of  disputation  (if  it  can  be 
styled  such)  the  odds  must  ever  be  against  us ;  and  we  must 
be  content  with  those  for  our  friends  who  have  honesty  and 


40  LFCTURE  I. 

erudition,  candour  and  patience,  to  study  both  sides  of  the 
question."* 

These  observations  explain  the  lamentable  fact,  that,  in  a 
large  portion  of  society,  there  is  so  much  more  acquaintance 
with  the  cant  and  slang  of  infidelity,  than  with  the  reason- 
ings in  support  of  Christianity ;  that  our  young  men  are  often 
so  familiar  with  the  boasting  and  floating  calumnies  which 
the  troubled  sea  of  infidelity  is  ever  casting  up,  with  its  mire 
and  dirt,  in  the  face  of  the  gospel ;  while,  with  the  innume- 
rable efforts  by  which  Christian  science  has  scattered  all  such 
poisonous  exhalations  to  the  winds,  many  have  not  the  most 
trifling  acquaintance. 

All  these  considerations  are  at  least  sufficient  to  impress  us 
with  the  eminent  importance  of  the  most  serious  attention  to 
the  spirit  and  manner  in  which  one  proceeds  in  the  study  of 
the  evidences  of  Christianity. 

Let  me  urgently  recommend  docility,  in  this  pursuit.  By 
this,  I  mean  nothing  resembling  credulity ;  but  an  open- 
hearted  and  humble-minded  readiness  to  weigh  evidence 
with  simplicity  of  purpose  in  the  most  even  scales  of  truth  ; 
and  then  to  submit  to,  and  follow  the  truth,  wherever  it  may 
lead,  with  singleness  of  heart,  in  the  fear  of  God. 

Let  me  also  recommend  a  deep  seriousness  of  purpose,  in 
this  pursuit.  I  mean  that  calm  and  settled  earnestness  of 
mind,  which  a  just  sense  of  the  unspeakable  importance  of 
the  subject,  and  of  the  responsibility  under  which  all,  even 
the  most  indifferent,  must  treat  it,  will  necessarily  inspire. 

Lastly,  prayer  is  by  all  means  to  be  employed  in  this  pur- 
suit. It  is  written  most  wisely :  "  If  any  man  lack  wisdom, 
let  him  ask  of  God."  But  do  I  forget  that  I  am  speaking 
from  the  chair  of  a  lecture  room,  instead  of  the  pulpit  of  a 
church  ?  Prayer  !  How  do  I  know  but  that  I  am  addressing 
many  who  are  already  on  the  side  of  infidelity  ?  Would  I 

*  Home's  Letters  on  Infidelity. 


LECTURE  I.  41 

say  to  them,  study  the  evidences  of  Christianity  with  prayer  ? 
Is  it  not  equivalent  to  begging  the  question  ?  Is  it  not  asking 
them  to  do  what,  as  professors  of  infidelity,  they  object  to  1 
In  one  sense,  I  verily  believe  it  is  begging  the  question.  A 
spirit  of  serious,  earnest  prayer,  for  the  knowledge  of  truth, 
is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  infidelity.  Who  does 
not  feel  the  singularity  involved  in  the  idea  of  seeing  a  tho- 
rough infidel  engaged  in  secret,  earnest  prayer,  to  be  pre- 
served from  all  bias  in  search  of  truth,  and  to  be  led  in  the 
way  in  which  God  would  have  him  to  go  ?  And  yet,  if  he 
be  not  an  Atheist,  he  can  have  nothing  to  say  against  the 
propriety  of  such  a  step.  But  is  it  true  that  infidelity  and 
the  spirit  of  prayer  are  practically  so  inconsistent  ?  Is  it 
true  that  we  have  already  accomplished  at  least  half  our 
work  of  conviction,  when  we  have  persuaded  an  unbeliever 
to  make  religious  truth  a  subject  of  serious  supplication  at 
the  throne  of  grace  1  What  does  this  say  for  the  gospel  ? 

Any,  who  are  very  anxious  to  continue  in  unbelief,  had 
better  not  pray.  They  might  find  out  more  than  would  be 
convenient,  by  such  an  effort.  Infidelity  cannot  tolerate  so 
much  seriousness.  But  if  any  feel  that  they  lack  wisdom, 
in  this  great  concern  of  eternity,  and  desire  to  know  the  way 
of  light  and  life  :  "  let  them  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  to  all 
men  liberally  and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given 
them." 


**  LECTURE  II. 

LECTURE    II. 

AUTHENTICITY    OP    THE     NEW    TESTAMENT. 

OUR  last  lecture  was  only  introductory  to  the  importan 
subject  to  which  I  have  undertaken  to  lead  your  attention. 
In  the  present,  we  enter  directly  upon  one  of  its  principal 
branches. 

The  study  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity  may  be  either 
brief  or  extended,  according  to  the  object  with  which  it  is 
pursued.  If  it  be  merely  the  possession  of  some  one  distinct 
and  conclusive  train  of  reasoning,  perfect  "in  itself,  the  inves- 
tigation may  soon  be  ended.  The  student  may  take  any 
single  miracle  or  fulfilled  prophecy ;  he  may  choose  his 
premises  from  the  narrative  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  or 
the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  or  the  propagation  of  Christianity, 
and,  confining  his  argument  to  the  point  selected,  may  deduce 
a  finished  proof  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel.  But 
if  he  desire  not  only  rational  satisfaction  for  his  own  mind, 
but  a  full  view  of  all  those  great  highways  of  evidence 
which,  from  every  quarter,  concentrate  upon  Christianity;  if 
he  would  behold,  not  only  that  it  is  capable  of  conclusive 
proof,  but  how  variously  and  wonderfully  its  Divine  Author 
has  encompassed  it  with  proofs  of  every  kind,  drawn  from 
innumerable  sources,  and  prepared,  at  all  points,  for  every 
objection,  he  may  lay  himself  out  for  a  work  of  extensive 
research,  as  well  as  of  rich  gratification  and  improvement. 

The  evidences  of  Christianity  are  classed  under  two  gene- 
ral denominations :  external  or  historical,  and  internal  evi- 
dence. Under  the  latter,  are  included  whatever  proofs  of 
divine  original  may  be  drawn  from  the  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  its  incomparable  system  of  morality;  the  adaptation  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  mankind  ; 


LECTURE  II.  43 

the  holy  and  elevated  character  of  its  Founder ;  together 
with  all  those  incidental,  but  striking  and  various  marks  of 
uprightness,  accuracy,  and  benevolence,  which  appear  in  the 
spirit  and  manner  of  the  New  Testament  writers,  or  which 
are  seen  by  a  comparison  of  their  several  books  one  with 
another.  Such  are  the  principal  heads  of  internal  evidence. 
Under  the  name  of  external  or  historical  evidence,  we  find 
whatever  exhibits  the  need  of  a  revelation,  as  apparent  in 
the  state  of  human  opinion  and  practice  among  the  most 
enlightened  nations  at  the  commencement  of  the  gospel ;  the 
argument  establishing  the  authenticity  of  the  scriptures,  and 
the  credibility  of  the  history  contained  therein ;  the  proofs 
arising  from  miracles ;  from  fulfilled  prophecy ;  from  the 
propagation  of  Christianity,  and  from  the  social  and  personal 
benefits  which  have  always  accompanied  its  promotion, 
according  to  the  degree  in  which  its  native  character  and 
influence  have  had  room  to  appear.  Such  are  the  principal 
heads  of  external  evidence. 

The  present  course  of  lectures,  for  want  of  time  to  carry 
it  further,  will  be  confined  to  the  department  last  described  ; 
which  is  chosen  in  preference  to  the  other,  not  because  it  is 
more  important  or  conclusive,  but  as  more  capable  of  having 
justice  done  it,  in  a  series  of  discussions  such  as  that  to  which 
the  circumstances  of  these  lectures  restrict  us. 

Should  we  embrace  in  our  view  of  this  grand  division  of 
evidence  whatever  belongs  to  it,  your  attention  would  first 
be  called  to  the  indispensable  necessity  of  a  divine  revcla- 
tioti,  as  the  history  of  the  ancient  world  displays  it,  and  as  it 
is  still  exhibited  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  This,  how- 
ever, we  have  not  room  to  include  in  our  course.  Though 
extremely  impressive,  and  worthy  of  investigation,  it  is  not 
an  essential  argument.  The  straight  forward  method  of  phi- 
losophical inquiry  directs  its  attention  to  the  testimony  sim- 
ply that  an  event  did  occur,  and  will  not  suspend  assent  til) 
the  need  of  such  an  event  shall  have  been  fully  explained 


4KI  LECTURE  II. 

* 

If  convincing  evidence  be  adduced  to  the  matter  of  fact  that 
a  revelation  has  been  given;  we  may  be  reasonably  content, 
while  our  limits  forbid  the  proof  that  it  was  needed.  Who- 
ever should  desire  to  read  on  this  head  will  find  it  well  dis- 
cussed in  the  first  volume  of  Wilson's  Lectures  on  the  Evi- 
dences, &c.,  or  in  the  admirable  letters  on  the  same  subject, 
by  Olinthus  Gregory,  L.  L.  D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  the  Royal  Military  Academy  at  Woolwich,  one  of  the 
most  scientific  and  pious  laymen  of  the  age  ;  or,  more  at 
large,  in  the  learned  volume  of  Leland,  on  the  Advantages 
and  Necessity  of  a  Divine  Revelation. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament. 
We  possess  a  venerable  volume,  under  this  title,  consisting 
of  twenty-seven  independent  books  or  writings,  reputed  to 
have  been  composed  by  eight  different  authors.  It  professes 
to  contain,  and  is  continually  appealed  to  as  containing,  not 
only  an  accurate  account  of  the  history  and  doctrine  of  Jesus 
Christ,  but  an  account  written  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity, 
by  its  earliest  disciples  and  advocates,  who  were  contempo- 
raneous with  its  author,  and  were,  most  of  them,  eyewit- 
nesses of  the  events  related.  Now,  before  we  can  be  rea- 
sonably warranted  in  placing  implicit  reliance  in  the  New 
Testament,  as  the  book  of  the  facts  and  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, two  important  questions  must  be  determined.  First :  is 
there  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  several  writings,  of 
which  it  is  composed,  were  written  by  the  men.to  whom  they 
are  ascribed  ?  This  involves  the  AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT.  Secondly:  is  the  New  Testament  de- 
serving of  implicit  reliance  as  to  matters  of  historical  detail, 
so  that  we  may  receive  any  narrative,  as  unquestionably 
true,  because  contained  therein  7  This  refers  to  the  CREDI- 
BILITY OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

Thus  you  perceive,  that  whether  a  volume  be  authentic, 
and  whether  credible,  are  two  widely  separate  questions, 
neither,  necessarily  implying  the  other,  however  the  evidence 


LECTURE  II. 


45 


of  one  may  bear  upon  the  proof  of  the  other.  Writings 
may  be  authentic,  composed  by  the  men  whose  names  they 
bear,  and  yet  not  credible.  They  may  be  credible,  because 
correct  in  their  statements,  and  yet  not  authentic.  The 
question  of  authenticity  refers  to  the  author;  that  of  credi- 
bility to  the  narrative.  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress"  is  authen- 
tic, because  it  was  actually  composed  by  John  Bunyan,  to 
whom  it  is  ascribed ;  but  as  a  narrative,  it  is  not  credible, 
being  an  allegory  throughout.  The  book  entitled  "  Travels 
of  Anacharsis  the  Younger,"  is  credible,  so  far  as  it  professes 
to  exhibit  a  view  of  the  antiquities,  manners,  customs,  reli- 
gious ceremonies,  &c.,  of  ancient  Greece ;  but  it  is  not  authen- 
tic, having  been  written  in  the  eighteenth  century  by  Barthe- 
lemy,  and  fictitiously  ascribed  to  the  Scythian  philosopher. 
"  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington"  is  both  authentic  and 
credible,  being  a  true  history,  and  worthily  honoured  with 
the  name  of  that  eminent  and  excellent  man,  from  whose 
pen  it  professes  to  have  come.  That  the  New  Testament  is 
also  authentic  and  credible,  we  undertake  to  show.  We 
exclude  the  more  ancient  portion  of  the  sacred  volume,  not 
because  of  any  deficiency  in  its  evidence,  but  for  the  sake 
of  unity  and  clearness  in  our  inquiries ;  and  because,  when 
the  argument  for  the  New  Testament  is  set  forth  in  a 
conclusive  form,  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the 
other  is  rendered,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  a  necessary  infe- 
rence. The  two  questions  will  be  the  subjects  of  different 
lectures.  To  that  of  authenticity  our  attention  will,  this 
evening,  be  confined.  Let  us  begin  with  the  following : 

How  does  it  appear  that  the  several  writings  composing 
the  volume  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  by  the  men 
to  whom  they  are  ascribed — the  original  disciples  of  Christ— 
and  are  consequently  authentic  ? 

We  pursue  precisely  the  same  method  in  determining  the 
authorship  of  the  New  Testament,  as  in  ascertaining  thai 
of  any  other  book  of  a  passed  age.  For  example ;  we 

4 


46  LECTURE  II. 

possess  a  celebrated  poem  entitled  Paradise  Lost.  It  bears 
the  name  of  Milton.  How  do  we  know  that  Milton  com- 
posed it  ?  The  answer  is  easy.  Our  fathers  received  it,  as 
his  production,  from  their  fathers ;  and  they,  from  theirs. 
By  such  steps,  we  ascend  to  the  very  year  in  which  the  book 
was  first  published,  and  find  it  invariably  ascribed  to  Milton. 
Moreover,  the  history  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  speaks 
of  it  as  unquestionably  and  notoriously  his  work.  Writers 
of  every  succeeding  age  refer  to,  and  quote  it  as  well  known 
to  be  his.  The  language  of  the  poem  bears  the  characteristic 
marks  of  Milton's  times.  Its  spirit,  genius,  and  style,  dis- 
play the  distinctive  features  of  Milton's  mind  and  character. 
And,  finally,  though  Milton  had  many  enemies,  and  lived 
in  a  time  of  great  divisions,  and  this  poem  redounded  greatly 
to  his  praise,  and  many  must  have  been  disposed,  had  they 
been  able,  to  discover  some  false  pretensions  in  his  claim  to 
its  authorship ;  no  other  person  in  that  age  was  ever  men- 
tioned as  disputing  his  title,  but  all  united  in  acknowledging 
him  as  the  writer  of  Paradise  Lost.  On  this  evidence, 
although  the  poem  professes  to  have  been  written  as  far  back 
as  the  year  16T4,  we  are  so  perfectly  certain  of  its  authentici- 
ty, that  the  man  who  should  dispute  it  would  be  justly 
suspected  of  idiocy  or  derangement.  And  had  Milton  lived 
in  the  7th,  instead  of  the  17th  century,  a  similar  body  of 
evidence  would  have  been  equally  satisfactory.  If,  instead 
of  the  7th  century,  he  had  lived  in  the  first  of  the  Christian 
era,  similar  evidence,  reaching  up  to  his  time,  would  still 
prove,  beyond  a  question,  that  he  wrote  Paradise  Lost. 
Thus  it  is  evident  that  time  has  no  effect  to  impair  the  force 
of  such  proof.  Whether  a  book  be  ascribed  to  the  Christian 
era  or  to  five  centuries  before  or  after ;  the  evidence,  being 
the  same,  is  equally  satisfactory.  It  as  well  convinces  us 
that  the  history  ascribed  to  Herodotus,  in  the  5th  century, 
before  Christ,  was  written  by  that  historian,  as  that  the 
jEneid  was  writlen  by  Virgil,  a  little  before  the  birth  of 


LECTURE    II.  47 

Christ ;  or  the  "  Faerie  Queene"  by  Spenser,  in  the  1590th 
year  after  that  event.  We  are  no  less  satisfied  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  than  of  Newton's 
Principia ; — though  between  the  dates  of  their  publication, 
there  is  an  interval  of  more  than  two  thousand  years.  So 
little  does  the  age  of  a  book  affect  the  evidence  required  to 
establish  its  authenticity. 

Now  in  ascertaining  the  authorship  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, we  are  furnished  with  evidence  precisely  similar  to 
that  which  settles  the  question  so  conclusively  as  to  either  of 
the  works  above  mentioned.*  An  unbroken  chain  of  testi 
mony  ascends  from  the  present  generation  to  the  preceding, 
and  thence  to  the  next  beyond,  and  thence  onward  again,  till 
it  reaches  the  very  age  of  the  apostles,  exhibiting  an  uninter- 
rupted series  of  acknowledgments  of  the  New  Testament, 
as  having  been  written  indeed  by  those  primitive  disciples  to 
whom  its  several  parts  are  ascribed.  Besides  this,  historians 
and  other  writers  of  the  age  ascribed  to  this  volume,  as  well 
Heathen  and  Jewish,  as  Christian,  not  only  recognise  its 
existence  in  their  day,  but  speak  of  it  as  notoriously  the 
production  of  its  reputed  authors.  The  language  is  charac- 
teristic of  their  age,  nation  and  circumstances.  The  style 
and  spirit  exhibit  the  well-known  peculiarities  of  their  re- 
spective minds  and  dispositions.  And  again,  although  the 
New  Testament  at  the  time  of  its  first  appearance,  either  in 
parts  or  collectively,  was  surrounded  with  numerous,  learned, 
and  ingenious,  as  well  as  most  bitter  enemies,  both  among 
Heathens  and  Jews ;  and  although  there  arose  at  an  early 
period,  many  animated  controversies  between  the  real  be- 
lievers in  gospel  truth,  on  one  side,  and  sundry  heretical 

*  "  We  know,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  the  writings  of  the  Apostles,  as  we 
know  the  works  of  Plato,  Aristotle,  Cicero,  Varro,  and  others ;  and  as  we 
know  the  writings  of  divers  ecclesiastical  authors;  for  as  much  as  they  have 
the  testimony  of  contemporaries,  and  of  those  who  have  lived  in  succeeding 
apes." 


48 


LECTURE    II. 


pretenders  to  the  Christian  faith,  whose  cause  would  often 
have  been  materially  served  by  a  well  sustained  denial  of  the 
authenticity  of  certain  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament ; 
none  in  the  primitive  ages,  whether  heretics  or  open  enemies, 
ever  denied  that  this  volume  contained  the  genuine  writings 
of  the  original  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ.  On  the 
contrary,  all  received,  argued,  and  acted  upon  it  as  unques- 
tionably authentic.  Thus  we  have  the  same  evidence  that 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  by  those 
whose  names  they  bear,  as  that  Paradise  Lost  was  written 
by  the  man  whose  name  it  bears.  The  force  of  this  evidence 
is  in  no  wise  diminished  by  the  consideration  that  the  apos- 
tles lived  in  the  first,  and  Milton  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Thus  have  you  received  a  general  outline  of  the  argu- 
ment. We  proceed  to  a  more  particular  view. 

I.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted  or  alluded 
toby  a  series  of  writers  who  may  be  followed  up  in  unbroken 
succession  from  the  present  age  to  that  of  the  apostles.  In 
proof  of  this,  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  satisfaction  of  any 
person  of  ordinary  information  to  trace  the  line  of  testimony 
from  the  present  time,  or  from  any  point  of  departure  lower 
down  than  the  fourth  century.  Whoever  has  the  least 
acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  civilized  world,  as  far 
upward  as  the  fourth  century,  must  know  that  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  New  Testament,  as  composed  of  authentic 
writings,  is  interwoven  with  all  the  literature,  science,  and 
political,  as  well  as  religious  institutions,  of  every  subsequent 
age.  We  begin,  therefore,  the  chain  of  testimony  at  the 
fourth  century. 

It  is  a  very  impressive  evidenceof  the  high  estimate  in  which 
the  New  Testament  was  universally  held  at  this  period,  that 
beside  innumerable  quotations  in  various  writings,  no  less 
than  eleven  distinct,  formal  catalogues  of  its  several  books, 
were  composed  at  various  times,  during  the  fourth  century, 
by  different  hands ;  and  two  of  them  by  large  and  solemn 


LKCTURE   II.  49 

councils  of  the  heads  of  the  Christian  church.  All  of  these 
are  still  extant ;  and  all  agree,  in  every  particular  important 
to  the  present  argument,  with  the  list  of  the  New  Testament 
writings  as  at  present  received.  In  the  year  397,  a  national 
or  provincial  council  assembled  at  Carthage,  consisting  of 
forty-four  bishops — Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  was  a  mem- 
ber. The  47th  canon  of  that  council  is  thus  written :  "  It 
is  ordained  that  nothing  beside  the  canonical  scriptures  be 
read  in  the  church  under  the  name  of  divine  scriptures ;  and 
the  canonical  scriptures  are  these,"  &c.  In  the  enumeration, 
we  find  precisely  our  New  Testament  books,  and  no  more.* 

About  the  same  time  Augustine  wrote  a  book  entitled  "  Of 
the  Christian  Doctrine"  in  which  is  furnished  a  catalogue  of 
what  he  considered  the  authentic  writings  of  the  evangelists 
and  apostles,  agreeing  entirely  with  ours.  "  In  these  books 
(saith  he)  they  who  fear  God,  seek  his  ?/n//."t 

A  short  time  before  this,  Rufinus,  a  presbyter  of  Aquileia, 
published  an  "  Explication  of  the  Apostles'  Creed"  in  which 
he  includes  a  catalogue  of  the  scriptures.  It  commences 
thus :  "  It  will  not  be  improper  to  enumerate  here,  the  books 
of  the  New  and  Old  Testament,  which  we  find,  by  the  monu- 
ments of  the  fathers,  to  have  been  delivered  to  the  churches, 
as  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  This  list  differs  in  nothing 
from  ours.J 

Jerome,  a  contemporaneous  writer,  universally  allowed  10 
have  been  the  most  learned  of  the  Latin  fathers,  in  a  letter 
concerning  the  study  of  the  scriptures,  enumerates  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament  in  precise  correspondence  with  our 
volume.  With  regard  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  he 
states  that  by  some  it  was  not  considered  as  the  work  of 
Paul ;  though  it  is  evident,  from  other  places  of  his  writings, 
that  he  was  satisfied  of  its  authenticity,  and  numbered  it 
among  the  canonical  scriptures. § 

*  Lardner's  Credibility  of  the  Gosp.  Hist.  ii.  574. 

t  Lardner,  ii.  578.  t  Tb.  ii.  573.  3  Ib.  ii.  548. 

4* 


50  LECTURE  II. 

In  the  year  380,  wrote  Philastrius,  bishop  of  Brescia.  In 
a  book  "  Concerning  Heresies"  he  gives  a  catalogue  agree- 
ing entirely  with  ours,  except  that  it  omits  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation.  But  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  these  were  not  considered  canonical.  The  object  of 
his  catalogue  is  to  enumerate  the  books  appointed  to  be  read 
in  the  churches.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  he  says,  was 
read  in  the  churches  "  sometimes."  "  Some  pretend  (he 
writes)  that  additions  have  been  made  to  it  by  some  hetero- 
dox persons,  and  that  for  that  reason  it  ought  not  to  be  read 
in  the  churches,  though  it  is  read  by  some."  Philastrius 
himself  received  it,  and  frequently  quoted  it  as  the  work  of 
St.  Paul,  and  reckoned  it  a  heresy  to  reject  it.  He  received 
also  the  book  of  Revelation,  mentioning  its  rejection  by 
some  among  the  heresies  of  the  age.  "  There  are  some 
(he  writes)  who  dare  to  say  that  the  Revelation  is  not  a 
writing  of  John  the  apostle  and  evangelist."* 

About  the  year  370,  flourished  Gregory  Nazianzen,  bishop 
of  Constantinople,  who  in  a  work  "  On  the  True  and 
Genuine  Scriptures"  enumerates  all  the  present  books  01 
the  New  Testament,  except  that  of  Revelation.  This  how- 
ever he  has  quoted  in  his  other  works.t 

At  the  same  time,  wrote  Epiphanius,  bishop  of  Conslantia, 
in  Cyprus ;  "  a  man  of  five  languages."  He  wrote  against 
heresies,  and  gave  a  list  of  the  New  Testament  books  which 
agrees  exactly  with  ours.J 

About  the  year  350,  another  catalogue  was  published  by 
the  Council  of  Laodicea,  differing  in  nothing  from  ours  but 
m  the  omission  of  Revelation.  The  decrees  of  this  council 
were,  in  a  short  time,  received  into  the  canons  of  the  univer- 
sal church ;  so  that  as  early  as  about  the  middle  of  (he  4th 
century,  we  find  a  universal  agreement,  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  in  which  Christianity  existed,  as  to  the  constituent 


*  Lardner,  ii.  522.  t  Ib  470,  71.  t  Ib.  «6. 


LECTURE  II.  51 

parts  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  single  exception  of 
the  book  of  Revelation.  That  this  was  also  generally 
received,  and  why  any  doubted  its  authenticity,  will  appear 
in  our  subsequent  progress.* 

Athanasius  and  Cyril,  the  latter  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  a 
little  earlier  in  the  century,  have  furnished  catalogues — that 
of  the  former  agreeing  entirely  with  ours — that  of  the  latter 
in  every  thing  but  the  omission  of  the  Revelation  of  St. 
John. 

The  last  catalogue  to  be  mentioned  in  the  4th  century,  is 
that  of  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  who  flourished  about 
the  year  315.  "  A  man  (says  Jerome)  most  studious  in  the 
divine  scriptures,  and  very  diligent  in  making  a  large  collec- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  writers."  In  his  Ecclesiastical  History, 
he  mentions,  as  belonging  to  the  canon  of  scripture,  all  our 
present  books.  While  he  speaks  of  the  Epistle  of  James, 
the  second  of  Peter,  the  third  of  John,  and  the  book  of  Re- 
velation, as  questioned  by  some,  he  states  that  they  were 
generally  received,  and  declares  his  own  conviction  that  they 
ought  not  to  be  doubted.t 

The  above  testimonies,  though  capable  of  great  multipli- 
cation, are  amply  sufficient  to  exhibit  the  universal  confi- 
dence of  Christians,  of  the  fourth  century,  in  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  New  Testament.  Let  us  proceed  to  the  third. 
In  this,  among  other  important  names,  we  find  that  of  the 
celebrated  Origen,  who  flourished  about  the  year  230,  having 
been  born  A.  D.  184.  Jerome  speaks  of  him,  as  the  greatest 
doctor  of  the  churches,  since  the  apostles — that  he  had  the 
scriptures  by  heart,  and  laboured  day  and  night  in  studying 
and  explaining  them.J  Great  numbers  of  all  descriptions  of 
men  attended  his  lectures.  Heathen  philosophers  dedicated 
their  writings  to  him,  and  submitted  them  to  his  revisal.  lie 


*  Lardner,  ii.  414.     Alexanderon  the  Canon,  p.  150. 
t  Ib.  ii.  368  &c.  t  Ib   i.  527, 


52 


LECTURE    II. 


wrote  a  three-fold  exposition  of  the  books  of  scripture,  on 
which  he  bestowed  all  his  learning.  He  lived  within  a  hun- 
dred years  of  the  death  of  St.  John,  and  was  therefore  so 
near  the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  that  he  could  hardly  avoid  obtaining  the  most 
accurate  knowledge  of  their  origin  and  authors.  His  enu- 
meration of  these  writings  contains  no  other  books  than 
those  of  our  sacred  volume,  and  includes  all  that  we  receive, 
except  the  Epistles  of  James  and  Jude,  which  could  not  have 
been  omitted  by  design,  as  in  other  places  he  expressly 
acknowledges  them  as  part  of  the  sacred  canon. 

Beside  Origen,  we  have  in  the  third  century,v  Victorinus,  a 
bishop  in  Germany ;  Cyprian,  bishop  of  Carthage;  Gregory, 
of  Neo-Caesarea,  and  Dionysius,  of  Alexandria,  in  whose 
writings  are  found  most  copious  quotations  from  almost 
every  book  of  the  New  Testament. 

We  proceed  to  the  second  century.  Here  we  meet  with 
Tertullian,  a  native  of  Carthage,  born  about  the  year  150, 
within  fifty  years  of  the  last  of  the  apostles,  and  renowned 
in  his  day  as  a  learned,  vigorous,  and  voluminous  writer  in 
defence  of  Christianity.  His  works  abound  in  quotations  of 
the  most  direct  kind,  and  with  long  extracts  from  all  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  except  four  of  the  minor 
Episties,  which,  as  he  nowhere  professes  to  give  a  formal 
cataxogue,  he  may  easily  be  supposed  to^have  passed  un- 
quoted, without  entertaining  any  opinion  unfavourable  to 
their  authenticity.  Tertullian's  quotations  occupy  nearly 
thirty  folio  pages.  "  There  are  more  and  larger  quotations 
of  the  small  volume  of  the  New  Testament  in  this  one 
Christian  author,  than  of  all  the  works  of  Cicero — in  the 
writers  of  all  characters  for  several  ages.1"* 

The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  Irenasus  and  Clement,  of 
A.lexandria;  both  writers  of  the  second  century.  In  what 

*  Lardner,  i.  435. 


LECTURE    II.  53 

spirit  these  early  Christians  regarded  the  authority  of  the 
New  Testament  books,  may  be  judged  from  the  manner  of 
their  quotations.  Irenaeus  writes :  "  As  the  blessed  Paul 
says,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  v.  30  :  '  For  we  are 
members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones.'"  And 
so  Clement,  "  The  blessed  Paul,  in  the  first  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  :  '  Brethren,  be  not  children  in  understand- 
ing,' "  &c. 

It  deserves  to  be  specially  noted  that,  in  this  early  age,  the 
book  of  Revelation  is  expressly  ascribed  to  St.  John.  The 
testimony  of  Irenseus  to  this  effect  is  so  full  and  strong,  that 
it  may  justly  be  considered  as  putting  its  authenticity  entirely 
beyond  reasonable  dispute.* 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that,  in  the  second  century, 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  open  to  all,  and  well 
known  in  the  world.  In  Tertullian's  Apology,  addressed  to 
the  Roman  presidents,  he  challenges  an  inspection  of  the 
scriptures.  "Look  into  the  words  of  God,  our  scriptures, 
which  we  ourselves  do  not  conceal,  and  many  accidents 
bring  into  the  way  of  those  who  are  not  of  our  religion." 
In  this  appeal,  he  calls  the  attention  of  the  heathen  rulers 
to  the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  as  constituting,  "  the  words  of 
God,  our  scriptures."! 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the  time  of  Ter- 
tullian,  the  very  autographs,  or  original  letters  of  the  apos- 
tles, were  in  the  possession  of  those  churches  to  which  they 
had  been  specially  directed.  "  If  (says  this  ancient  writer) 
you  be  willing  to  exercise  your  curiosity  profitably  in  the 
business  of  your  salvation,  visit  the  apostolical  churches,  in 
which  the  very  chairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside  ;  in  which 
their  very  authentic  letters  are  recited,  sounding  forth  thti 
voice,  and  representing  the  countenance,  of  each  one  of 
them.  Is  Achaia  near  you  ?  You  have  Corinth.  If  you 

*  Lardner,  i.  372  t  Ib.  i.  434. 


54  LECTURE  II. 

are  not  far  from  Macedonia,  you  have  Philippi,  you  have 
Thessalonica,"  &c.*  If  Tertullian  did  not  mean  that  the 
original  manuscripts,  but  only  authentic  copies  of  the  Epis- 
tles to  the  Corinthians,  Philippians,  &c.,  were  to  be  seen  by 
application  to  those  churches,  why  send  inquirers  thither  ? 
Could  an  authentic  copy  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians 
be  seen  nowhere  but  at  Philippi ;  or  of  that  to  the  Corin- 
thians, nowhere  but  at  Corinth  ?t 

The  quotations  from  the  New  Testament,  in  the  writings 
of  the  second  century,  are  so  numerous  that  were  the  sacred 
volume  lost,  a  large  part  of  it  might  be  collected  from  them 
alone.  Passing  by  the  testimonies  of  Melito,  bishop  of 
Sardis,  who  wrote  a  commentary  on  the  book  of  Revelation, 
and  of  Hegesippus,  converted  from  Judaism,  and  of  Tatian, 
who  composed  a  harmony  of  the  gospels,  all  born  about  the 
time  of  the  death  of  St.  John,  we  come  to  Justin  Martyr, 
born  about  ten  years  prior  to  that  event.  Before  his  conver- 
sion from  heathenism,  he  studied  philosophy  in  the  schools 
of  the  Stoics,  Peripatetics,  Pythagoreans,  and  Platonics. 
After  becoming  a  Christian,  he  occupied  a  high  stand  in 
learned  writing  and  holy  living.  His  remaining  works  con- 
tain numerous  quotations  from,  as  well  as  allusions  to,  the 
four  Gospels,  which  he  uniformly  represents  as  containing 
"  the  genuine  and  authentic  accounts  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of 
his  doctrine."  The  same  is  true  in  relation  to  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Epistles.  The 
book  of  Revelation  is  expressly  said  by  Justin  to  have  been 
written  by  "  John,  one  of  the  apostles  of  Christ."  Having 
lived  before  the  death  of  that  apostle,  he  had  the  best  opportu- 
nity of  knowing. 

We  finish  the  second  century  with  Papias,  bishop  of 
Hierapolis  in  Asia,  whom  Irenaeus  speaks  of  as  a  hearer  of 
John,  and  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  a  pupil  of  John  the  apostle.t 

Lardner,  i  424.     t  Alexander  on  the  Canon,  p.  143.  t  Lardner,  i.  336. 


LECTURE  II.  55 

How  he  obtained  his  information,  will  appear  from  the  only 
fragment  of  his  writings  remaining.  It  is  found  in  Eusebius. 
"If  at  any  time,  I  met  with  one  who  had  conversed  with 
the  elders,  I  inquired  after  the  sayings  of  the  elders  (presby- 
ters): what  Andrew  or  what  Peter  said;  or  what  Philip, 
Thomas,  or  James,  had  said ;  what  John  or  Matthew,  or 
what  any  other  of  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  were  wont  to 
say."*  Thus  we  have  a  witness  who  lived  near  enough  to 
the  beginning,  to  inquire  of  those  who  had  conversed  with 
the  apostles,  if  not  to  listen  to  St.  John  himself.  Too  little 
remains  of  .his  writings  to  furnish  many  testimonies,  especially 
as  he  had  it  not  in  view  to  confirm  the  authenticity  of  any 
part  of  scripture  ;  but  still  he  gives  a  very  valuable  testimony 
to  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  the  first  Epistles 
of  Peter  and  John.  He  alludes  to  the  Acts  and  the  book 
of  Revelation. 

Thus  we  have  ascended  to  the  apostolic  age.  But  we 
may  reach  still  higher.  We  have  in  our  possession  the  well 
authenticated  writings  of  five  individuals  and  fathers  in  the 
primitive  church,  who,  because  they  were  contemporary 
with  the  apostles,  are  called  apostolical  fathers.  Three  of 
them,  Barnabas,  Clement,  and  Hernias,  are  mentioned  by 
name  in  the  New  Testament;!  the  fourth,  Polycarp,  was 
an  immediate  disciple  of  St.  John ;  the  fifth,  Ignatius,  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  frequent  intercourse  with  the  apostles. 
There  is  scarcely  a  book  of  the  New  Testament,  which  one 
or  another  of  these  writers  has  not  either  quoted  or  alluded 
to.  Though  what  is  extant  of  their  works  is  very  little,  it 
contains  more  than  two  hundred  and  twenty  quotations,  or 
allusions  to  the  writings  of  our  sacred  volume,  in  which 
they  are  uniformly  treated  with  the  reverence  belonging  to 
inspired  books,  calling  them  "  the  Sacred  Scriptures?  '•'•the 

*  Lardner,  L  337. 

t  Acts  xiii.  2,  3;  46,  47.     1.  Cor.  ix.  4—7.     Phil.  iv.  3.    Rom.  xvi.  14 


56  LECTURE  II. 

Oracles  of  the  Lord"  Their  testimony  is  not  universal, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  incidental.  They  had  no  design  of  enu- 
merating for  posterity,  or  their  contemporaries,  the  books  of 
scripture.  There  was  no  controversy  on  that  subject  in  their 
age.  It  would  have  seemed  a  needless  waste  of  words,  had 
they  attempted  to  decide  a  question  which  no  one  asked.  It 
is  very  natural,  therefore,  considering  the  brevity  of  their 
remaining  works,  and  the  incidental  character  of  their  quo- 
tations, that  some  of  the  shorter  writings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment should  not  be  alluded  to ;  while  the  fact  that,  by  one 
or  another,  almost  every  book  is  quoted  or  alluded  to,  and 
that  the  whole  number  of  quotations  or  allusions  is  upwards 
of  two  hundred  and  twenty,  accompanied  with  every  mark 
of  reverence  and  submission,  is  a  most  impressive  proof  that 
the  authenticity  and  inspired  authority  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment books  were  then  notorious  and  unquestioned  among 
Christians. 

Thus  we  have  ascended  the  line  of  testimony  into  the 
presence  of  the  apostles.  Our  evidence  has  been  collected 
from  only  a  few  out  of  the  many  witnesses  that  might  have 
been  cited.  It  has  been  derived  from  writers  of  different 
times,  and  of  countries  widely  separated — from  philosophers, 
rhetoricians,  and  divines,  all  men  of  acuteness  and  learning 
in  their  days,  all  concurring  in  their  testimony  that  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  equally  known  in  distant 
regions,  and  received  as  authentic  by  men  and  churches  that 
had  no  intercourse  with  one  another.  The  argument  is  now, 
therefore,  reduced  to  this.  The  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ 
are  known  to  have  left  some  writings.  That  those  writings 
have  been  lost,  none  can  give  a  reason  for  believing.  It  is 
not  pretended  that  any  other  volume  than  that  of  the  New 
Testament  contains  them.  The  books  contained  in  this 
volume,  were  considered  to  be  the  writings  of  the  apostles, 
by  the  whole  Christian  church,  as  far  back  as  those  who 
were  their  contemporaries  and  companions,  being  continu- 


LECTURE  II.  67 

ally  quoted  and  alluded  to  as  such.  It  was  impossible  that 
such  witnesses  should  be  deceived.  .  Contemporaries  and 
companions  must  have  known  whether  they  quoted  the 
genuine  works  of  the  apostles,  or  only  forgeries  pretending 
to  their  names.  Our  evidence,  therefore,  is  complete.  What 
I  have  presented,  exceeds,  above  measure,  the  evidence  for 
the  authenticity  of  any  other  ancient  book.  Should  the 
fiftieth  part  of  it  be  demanded  for  any  Roman  or  Grecian 
production,  its  character  must  be  condemned  as  unworthy  of 
confidence. 

Before  relinquishing  this  department  of  evidence,  there 
are  certain  very  important  particulars  which,  though  em- 
braced in  what  has  been  already  advanced,  require  a  more 
special  notice. 

1st.  It  is  worthy  of  distinct  remark,  that  when  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament  are  quoted  or  alluded  to  by  those 
whose  testimony  has  been  adduced,  they  are  treated  with 
supreme  regard,  as  possessing  an  authority  belonging  to 
no  other  books,  and  as  conclusive  in  questions  of  religion. 
For  example ;  Irenseus,  born  about  A.  D.  97,  calls  them 
"  divine  oracles  ;"  "  scriptures  of  the  Lord"  He  says  that 
the  Gospel  was  "  committed  to  writing,  by  the  will  of  God, 
that  it  might  be,  for  time  to  come,  the  foundation  and  pillar 
of  our  faith."*  "  He  fled  to  the  Gospels,  which  he  believed 
no  less  than  if  Christ  had  been  speaking  to  him  ;  and  to  the 
writings  of  the  apostles,  whom  he  esteemed  as  the  presby- 
tery of  the  whole  Christian  church."  Origen,  born  about 
A.  I).  184,  says,  "  Christians  believe  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  in  a  sense  not  to  be  explained  and  made  known  to 
men,  by  any  but  by  that  scripture  alone  which  is  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  is,  the  evangelic  and  apostolic  scrip- 
ture, as  also  that  of  the  law  and  the  prophets."t  Cyprian, 
bishop  of  Carthage,  born  about  the  end  of  the  second  cen- 

*  Lardner,  i.  372.  t  Ib.  i.  545. 


53  LECTURE  II. 

tury,  earnestly  exhorts  "all  in  general,  but  especially  Christian 
ministers,  in  all  doubtful  matters,  to  have  recourse  to  the 
Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of  the  apostles,  as  to  the  fountain 
where  may  be  found  the  true  original  doctrine  of  Christ." 
"  The  precepts  of  the  Gospel  (he  says)  are  to  be  considered 
as  the  lessons  of  God  to  us  ;  as  the  foundations  of  our  hope, 
and  the  supports  of  our  faith."* 

2d.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  united  at  a 
very  early  period  in  a  distinct  volume.  Not  to  mention,  in 
evidence  of  this,  that  in  all  the  earliest  writers,  the  Gospels 
and  Epistles  are  spoken  of  as  constituting  a  notorious  col- 
lection of  sacred  authorities,  divided  into  those  two  parts ; 
we  have  Tertullian,  born  only  fifty  years  after  the  death  of 
St.  John,  calling  the  collection  of  the  Gospels  the  "  evange- 
lical instrument  /'  the  whole  volume,  the  "  New  Testa- 
ment ;"  and  the  two  parts,  the  "  Gospels  and  apostles" 

3d.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were,  at  a  very 
early  period)  publicly  read  and  expounded  in  the  congrega- 
tions of  Christians.  Chrysostom,  born  about  A.  D.  347, 
testifies  that  "  the  Gospels,  when  written,  were  not  hid  in  a 
corner,  or  buried  in  obscurity,  but  made  known  to  all  the 
world,  before  enemies  as  well  as  others,  even  as  they  are 
now."  Irenaeus,  about  two  hundred  years  earlier,  says  that, 
in  his  time,  "  all  the  scriptures,  both  prophecies  and  Gospels, 
are  open  and  clear,  and  may  be  heard  of  aZ/."t  Still  earlier, 
we  find  Justin  Martyr  giving  the  emperor  an  account  of  the 
Christian  worship,  in  which  it  is  written :  "  The  memoirs  of 
the  apostles  or  the  writings  of  the  prophets  are  read,  accord- 
ing as  the  time  allows ;  and  when  the  reader  has  ended,  the 
president  makes  a  discourse,  exhorting  to  the  imitation  of  so 
excellent  things.''!  The  custom  here  mentioned,  is  evidently 
spoken  of  as  notorious  and  universal.  This  was  about  the 
year  140.  But  a  practice  thus  general  and  familiar  could 

*  Lardner,  li.  27,  and  592,  3.  t  Ib.  i.  372.  t  Ib.  i.  345. 


LECTURE  II.  59 

hardly  have  grown  up  in  less  than  forty  years  before  the 
writing  of  this  last  witness.  Thus  we  reach  the  life  of  St. 
John,  and  may,  therefore,  consider  it  as  satisfactorily  proved 
that,  at  a  period  as  early  as  the  last  years  of  St.  John,  the 
scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  were  publicly  read  and 
expounded  in  the  churches  of  Christians.  Such  is  the 
natural  inference,  from  many  passages  in  the  works  of 
Augustine,  of  the  fourth  century.  For  example,  "  The 
canonical  books  of  scripture  being  read  every  where,  the 
miracles  therein  recorded,  are  well  known  to  all  people." 
"  The  Epistles  of  Peter  and  Paul  are  daily  recited  to  the 
people."  And  to  what  people  ?  And  to  how  many  people? 
Listen  to  the  Psalm  :  "  Their  sound  hath  gone  out  into  all 
the  earth?  Again :  "  The  genuineness  and  integrity  of  the 
same  scriptures  may  be  relied  on,  which  have  been  spread 
all  over  the  world,  and  which  from  the  time  of  their  publi- 
cation were  in  the  highest  esteem,  and  have  been  carefully 
kept  in  the  churches* 

4th.  During  the  primitive  ages  of  Christianity r,  commen- 
taries were  written  upon  the  books  of  the  New  Testament ; 
harmonies  of  them  were  formed,  copies  diligently  com- 
pared, and  translations  made  into  different  languages.  In 
proof  of  these  assertions,  it  is  needless,  after  the  citations 
already  made,  to  call  up  testimony.  It  may  be  found  abun- 
dantly in  Paley's  Evidences  ;t  where  it  is  well  said,  that  "  no 
greater  proof  can  be  given  of  the  esteem  in  which  these  an- 
cient books  were  holden  by  the  ancient  Christians,  or  of  the 
sense  then  entertained  of  their  value  and  importance,  than 
the  industry  bestowed  upon  them.  Moreover,  it  shows  that 
they  were  then  considered  as  ancient  books.  Men  do  not 
write  comments  upon  publications  of  their  own  times : 
therefore  the  testimonies  cited  under  this  head,  afford  an 
evidence  which  carries  up  the  evangelic  writings  much  be- 

*Lardner,  ii.  593, 4.  t  P.  1.  c.  ix.  c  vi. 


f>0 


LECTURE  II. 


yond  the  age  of  the  testimonies  themselves,  and  to  that  o4 
their  reputed  authors."  There  is  but  a  single  example  of  a 
Christian  writer  during  the  three  first  centuries,  composing 
comments  upon  any  other  books  than  those  in  the  New  Tes- 
ment.  Clement,  of  Alexandria,  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius  as 
having  written  short  notes  upon  an  apocryphal  book,  called 
the  Revelation  of  Peter;  but  that  he  did  not  consider  it 
as  having  authority,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  men- 
tioned by  Eusebius,  that  in  his  other  works  it  was  nowhere 
quoted.* 

5th.  From  the  view  we  have  taken  of  primitive  testimony, 
it  appears  that  the  agreement  of  the  ancient  church  as  to 
what  were  the  authentic  books  of  the  New  Testament,  is 
complete.  Out  of  twelve  catalogues,  the  earliest  of  which  was 
furnished  by  Origen,  living  within  a  hundred  years  of  St. 
John  ;  all  of  which  were  drawn  up,  either  by  solemn  coun- 
cils, or  distinguished  heads  of  the  church  residing  in  various 
and  widely  remote  parts  of  the  world ;  out  of  twelve, 
seven,  including  the  earliest,  agree  exactly  with  our  New 
Testament  list ;  three  others  differ  only  in  the  omission  of 
the  book  of  Revelation,  for  which  they  had  a  special  reason 
not  implicating  its  authenticity;  and  in  the  two  which  remain, 
the  books  omitted  and  spoken  of  as  doubtful,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  some,  were  acknowledged  and  quoted  as  authentic 
by  the  framers  of  the  catalogues.  The  fathers,  in. all  their 
writings  and  of  all  ages  and  countries,  appeal  to  the  same 
scriptures  as  infallible  authority.  The  consent  of  the  ancient 
church  was  therefore  universal.  So  far  as  the  argument  for 
the  divine  revelation  of  Jhe  Gospel  is  connected  with  the 
authenticity  of  any  of  the  books  it  was  without  exception. 
The  books  omitted  in  some  writers  and  catalogues,  have  no 
essential  reference  to  the  great  question  whether  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  is  of  divine  revelation. 

»LanlnerI  i.410. 


LECTURE  II.  61 

Gth.  The  agreement  among  the  various  sects  of  heretics 
in  the  earliest  centuries,  is  as  entire  as  that  of  the  orthodox 
fathers.  The  authenticity  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  acknowledged  even  by  those  to  whose  sectarian 
interest  their  authority  was  extremely  detrimental.  Instead 
of  venturing  to  dispute  their  having  been  written  by  their 
reputed  authors,  they  sought  refuge  in  arbitrary  interpreta- 
tions of  such  passages  as  opposed  their  favourite  views. 
Some  among  the  Gnostics,  for  example,  unable  to  escape  the 
apostolic  character  of  the  sacred  books,  maintained  the  ne- 
cessity of  giving  an  allegorical  turn  to  their  declarations. 
And  when,  in  the  course  of  time,  heretics  did  undertake  to 
question  the  authenticity  of  some  portions  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, their  accusation  was  not  based  upon  any  historical 
or  testimonial  objections,  but  confined  to  some  trifling  and 
pretended  internal  causes  of  exception,  which  only  their 
own  convenience  could  discover.  Some  of  these  later  here- 
tics, being  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  denied  the  gospel  of  St.  John,  because  it  con- 
tains the  promise  of  that  divine  Teacher  and  Comforter. 
But  with  regard  to  those  of  an  earlier  date,  Irenseus  of  the 
second  century,  writes,  "  So  great  is  the  certainty  in  regard 
to  our  Gospels,  that  even  the  heretics  themselves  bear  testi- 
mony in  their  favour ;  and  all  acknowledging  them,  each 
endeavours  to  establish  from  them  his  own  opinions."*  Ori- 
gen,  on  account  as  well  of  his  candour  and  acquaintance 
with  the  heresies  of  his  times  as  of  the  early  age  in  which 
he  lived,  should  be  considered  a  competent  witness  on  this 
head.  He  states  that  the  heretics  endeavoured  to  impose 
upon  people  by  alleging  texts  of  scripture  for  their  particu 
lar  tenets,  though  they  quoted  them  in  a  very  unfair  and 
mutilated  manner  ;  and  that  they  appealed  to  them  because 
they  were  the  only  writings  whose  authority  was  umver- 


*  Storr  &  Flatt's  Bib.  Theol.  i.  C7. 
5*      • 


G2  LECTURE  II. 

sally  allowed.*  Testimony  more  impressive  than  this,  to 
the  apostolic  authorship  of  the  New  Testament  books,  can- 
not be  demanded. 

7th.  The  several  heads  of  evidence  which  have  now  been 
made  out  in  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, cannot  be  pretended  to  with  regard  to  any  of  those 
ivritings  which  are  called  Apocryphal  Scriptures.  To  some 
who  are  aware  that  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  there 
existed  a  variety  of  apocryphal  gospels  and  other  composi- 
tions, pretending  to  have  been  written  by  the  apostles,  it  may 
be  difficult  to  imagine  by  what  rule  the  true  works  of  the 
inspired  writers  were  separated,  without  embarrassment  and 
with  sufficient  confidence,  from  all  mere  pretenders  to  that 
high  original.  But  it  greatly  enhances  one's  sense  of  the 
prodigious  weight  of  evidence  in  support  of  the  true  scrip- 
tures, to  learn  how  broad  and  unquestionable  was  the  dis- 
tinction. 

Among  the  apocryphal  writings,  there  are  two  classes. 
One  is  that  of  histories  which  assumed  the  names  of  the 
apostles,  but  were  literally  forgeries  and  therefore  spurious, 
as  well  as  apocryphal.  The  other  consists  of  certain  writings 
of  a  christain  character,  and  either  entirely  or  in  part  histo- 
rical, which  are  not  spurious,  but  called  apocryphal  because 
their  age  and  authors  are  unknown,  or  their  authority  is  of 
no  weight. 

Of  the  first  class,  it  may  be  asserted,  without  any  hazard, 
that  none  are  quoted  within  three  hundred  years  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  by  any  writer  now  extant  or  known ;  or  if 
any  are  quoted,  it  is  invariably  with  marks  of  censure  and 
rejection.!  The  only  possible  exception  is  the  gospel  accord- 
ing to  the  Hebrews,  "which  (says  Lardner)  was  probably 
either  St.  Matthew's  gospel  in  his  original  Hebrew,  with  some 
additions  ;  or,  as  I  rather  think,  a  Hebrew  translation  of  St. 

*  Lardner,  iv.  521,  2.  t  6  Paley's  Evidences. 


LECTURE   II.  63 

Matthew-'s  Greek  original,  with  the  additions  above  mention- 
ed." But  this  is  quoted  nowhere,  without  marks  of  discredit 
except  in  one  place  in  the  works  of  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Of  the  second  class,  none  but  a  book  called  the  Preaching 
of  Peter,  and  another  entitled  the  Revelation  of  Peter,  are 
quoted,  without  positive  condemnation,  by  any  writer  of  the 
three  first  centuries.  These  are  spoken  of  only  by  the  same 
Clement  of  Alexandria.  Compare  with  these  facts,  the 
immense  mass  and  variety  of  concurrent  testimonies  to  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  writers  of  the  three  first 
centuries ;  testimonies  from  all  countries  and  all  classes — 
orthodox  or  heretics ;  remember  for  example  that  you  may 
find  in  the  extant  works  of  Tertullian,  or  of  Irenseus,  or  of 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  more  and  larger  quotations  of  the 
small  volume  of  the  New  Testament,  than  you  can  find  in 
writers  of  all  characters,  for  several  ages,  of  the  works  of 
Cicero,  though  voluminous  and  always  so  universally  popu- 
lar ;  and  it  will  be  evident  that  the  apocryphal  writings 
could  have  presented  no  difficulties  in  ascertaining  the 
authentic  books  of  the  apostles.  None  of  them  were  read 
as  having  apostolic  authority  in  the  churches  of  Christians ; 
nor  admitted  into  their  sacred  volume;  nor  included  in  their 
catalogues  ;  nor  noticed  as  authentic  by  the  adversaries  of 
Christianity ;  nor  appealed  to  by  all  parties  calling  them 
selves  Christians,  as  authority  in  their  controversies ;  nor 
treated  with  sufficient  respect  to  be  made  the  subjects  of 
commentaries,  collections  or  translations,  unless  the  brief 
notes  on  the  Revelation  of  Peter,  by  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
should  merit  exception.  .So  wide  was  the  contrast  between 
the  true  and  the  false ;  so  easily  were  the  true  scriptures  dis 
tingui-shed  from  all  unauthorized  pretenders  to  that  honoura- 
ble name. 

But  this  is  capable  of  being  exhibited  still  more  impres- 
sively. We  have  stated  several  important  evidences  of 
authenticity,  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  New  Testament, 


64  LECTURE    II. 

and  none  in  any  of  the  apocryphal  writings.  We  will  now 
exhibit  certain  evidences  of  spuriousness,  all  of  which  are 
found  in  the  apocryphal  writings,  and  none  in  those  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  reasons  which  render  the  authen- 
ticity of  a  work  suspicious,  are  thus  enumerated  in  the 
learned  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament  by  Michaelis : 

1.  When  doubts  have  been  entertained,  from  its  first  ap- 
pearance, whether  it  was  the  work  of  its  reputed  author. 

2.  When  his  immediate  friends  who  were  able  to  judge, 
have  denied  it  to  be  his.    3.  When  a  long  series  of  years 
has  elapsed  after  his  death,  in  which  the  book  was  unknown^ 
and  in  which  it  must  have  been  mentioned  or  quoted,  had  it 
been  in  existence.     4.  When  the  style  is  different  Trom  that 
of  his  other  writings  ;  or  in  case  no  others  remain,  different 
from  what  might  be  reasonably  expected.     5.  When  events 
are  recorded  which  happened  later  than  the  time  of  the  pre- 
tended author.     6.  When  opinions  are  advanced  contradic- 
tory to  those  which  he  is  known  to  have  maintained  in  other 
writings.*     Now  it  may  be  affirmed,  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction, that  the  apocryphal  books  exhibit  all  these  evidences 
of  spuriousness ;  none  of  them  being  exempt  from  nearly 
the  whole  list,  and  few  of  them  deficient  in  any  particular. 
While,  with  equal  confidence,  it  is  asserted  that  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament  exhibit  none  of  them.     In  no  book  of 
that  holy  volume,  are  opinions  professed  that  are  contradic- 
tory to  any  which  the  reputed  author  is  known  elsewhere  to 
fiave  maintained;  nor  are  facts  recorded  which  happened 
later  than  the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  nor  is  the  style  differ- 
ent from  that  of  his  other  writings;  or  from  what  might  rea- 
sonably have  been  expected  from  his  pen.     No  book  of  the 
New  Testament  was  unknown  during  a  long  series  of  years 
subsequent  to  the  death  of  the  individual  to  whom  it  is 
ascribed  ;  none  can  be  shown  to  have  been  denied  by  the 

*  Michaelis'  Int.,  i.  p.  25. 


LECTURE   II.  65 

near  friends  of  the  reputed  author  as  his  production ;  no 
doubts  can  be  proved  to  have  been  entertained  of  the  au 
thenticity  of  any  part  of  the  New  Testament  at  the  time  of 
its  first  publication. 

That  apocryphal  writings  existed  in  the  first  centuries,  is 
a  fact  which  so  far  from  embarrassing  the  evidence  for  the 
authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  books,  and  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  history,  very  materially  confirms  it.  Had  it  not 
been  notorious  that  the  apostles  did  write  Gospels  and  Epis- 
tles, it  is  not  likely  that  so  many  would  have  attempted  to 
pass  off  spurious  Gospels,  &c.,  in  their  names.  Had  it  not 
been  that  the  fame  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  was  very  great 
in  all  lands,  from  the  beginning,  it  is  not  probable  that  all 
these  apocryphal  authors  would  have  thought  of  writing 
about  them,  or  in  their  names ;  much  less  that  they  would 
have  expected  a  market  for  their  works.  Had  it  not  been 
notorious  and  universally  allowed  that  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles wrought  miracles,  and  did  many  wonderful  works,  it  is 
not  probable  that  all  these  writers  would  have  taken  it  for 
granted,  and  sought  to  build  up  their  particular  opinions 
upon  the  assumption.  "  They  all  suppose  the  dignity  of 
our  Lord's  person,  and  a  power  of  working  miracles,  toge- 
ther with  a  high  degree  of  authority,  as  having  been  con- 
veyed by  him  to  his  apostles."* 

That  apocryphal  books  should  have  been  published  in 
the  name  of  the  apostles,  is  precisely  what  was  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  wid-e  circulation,  great  popularity,  and  emi- 
nent reverence,  which  their  authentic  writings  had  obtained. 
Current  notes  soon  awaken  a  disposition  to  counterfeit  them. 
Popular  medicines  soon  bring  into  the  market  apocrypha) 
inventions  wearing  their  names.  The  effort  to  pass  off  the 
latter  is  the  best  proof  of  the  estimation  of  the  former. 

The  New  Testament  writers  have  been  treated,  in  this 

*Lardner,  iii.  131 


66  LECTURE  II. 

respect,  precisely  like  others.  So  writes  Augustine :  "  ISo 
writings  ever  had  a  better  testimony  afforded  them  than 
those  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists ;  nor  does  it  weaken 
the  credit  and  authority  of  books  received  by  the  church 
from  the  beginning,  that  some  other  writings  have  .been 
without  ground,  and  falsely,  ascribed  to  the  apostles ;  for 
the  like  has  happened,  for  instance,  to  Hippocrates ;  but 
yet  his  genuine  works  have  been  distinguished  from 
others,  which  have  been  published  under  his  name."* 
Such,  also,  has  been  the  case  with  many  others.  Several 
spurious  orations  were  published  under  the  names  of  Lysias 
and  Demosthenes.  Works  were  ascribed  to  Plautus,  and 
Virgil,  and  Horace,  which  had  no  title  to  their  names.  But 
it  was  no  difficult  matter  for  the  Greek  and  Roman  critics  to 
separate  the  genuine  from  the  apocryphal  works  of  those 
authors.  Thus  it  was  also  with  the  early  Christians.  They 
proved  all  things,  and  held  fast  that  only  which  was  good. 
"  We  receive  Peter  and  the  other  apostles,  as  Christ  (said 
Serapion,  bishop  of  Antioch) ;  but  as  skilful  men,  we  reject 
those  writings  which  are  falsely  ascribed  to  them." 

Here  we  might  safely  leave  the  question  of  authenticity ; 
for,  if  the  evidence  adduced  does  not  prove  the  New  Testa- 
ment books  to  have  proceeded  from  the  apostles,  no  book  of 
a  passed  age  has  any  pretension  to  authenticity ;  that  Milton 
wrote  Paradise  Lost  must  be  considered  unworthy  of  credit ; 
that  the  orations  bearing  the  name  of  Cicero,  were  composed 
or  delivered  by  that  orator,  must  be  condemned  as  one  of  the 
apocryphal  inventions  of  some  age  of  monks  and  darkness 
"  I  find  more  sure  marks  of  authenticity  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (said  Sir  Isaac  Newton),  than  in  any  profane  history 
whatever." 

But  inasmuch  as  your  minds  cannot  be  furnished  with 
too  much  information  on  this  fundamental  subject,  1 

*  Lardner,  iii.  134. 


LECTURE  II.  5 

will  reserve  some  important  views  for  a  subsequent  lec- 
ture. 

There  is  a  lesson  for  the  believer,  in  what -has  been  exhi- 
bited, of  great  practical  interest.  It  is  manifest,  from  the 
testimonies  adduced,  that  the  scriptures  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  treated,  among  the  primitive  Christians,  not  only 
as  true  and  possessed  of  inspired  authority,  in  reference  to 
all  questions  of  doctrine  and  obedience ;  but  as  very  pre- 
cious, "  more  to  be  desired  than  gold."  They  loved  them  as 
an  inestimable  treasure ;  they  kept  them,  consulted  them, 
and  exalted  them  in  their  hearts,  and  houses,  and  assemblies, 
as  a  companion  for  every  trial ;  a  guide  in  every  difficulty ; 
a  gift  of  God,  for  the  preservation  and  honour  of  which  they 
were  ready  to  shed  their  blood.  They  felt  them  to  be  "  pro- 
fitable for  doctrine,  reproof,  correction,  and  instruction  in 
righteousness."  How  does  all  this  rebuke  the  lukewarm- 
ness  with  which  the  scriptures  are  regarded  by  too  many 
professing  Christians  of  the  present  day.  In  primitive  times, 
believers  would  read  them,  though  they  paid  for  the  privilege 
with  their  lives.  In  these  days,  multitudes  who  call  them- 
selves believers,  can  hardly  be  persuaded  to  search  the  scrip- 
tures, though  every  facility  is  afforded,  and  the  Bible  is  in 
honour.  What  a  tremendous  account  must  he  give  to  God, 
who  neglects  His  word !  Let  us  imitate  not  only  the  affec- 
tionate devotion  with  which  the  primitive  Christians  read 
the  Bible,  but  also  the  diligent  zeal  with  which  they  sur- 
mounted innumerable  obstacles,  in  circulating  copies  of  its 
books  through  the  world.  We  possess  facilities  for  such  an 
object  which  they  had  not.  The  press  is  placed  in  our  hands 
for  this  very  purpose.  It  is  our  gift  of  tongues.  Let  us 
realize  the  responsibility  we  are  under,  for  the  improvement 
of  so  rich  a  talent ;  and  speed  its  work,  and  multiply  its 
branches  of  application,  till  the  sound  of  the  Gospel  has  gone 
out  into  all  the  earth,  and  the  words  of  Jesus  to  the  ends  of 
the  world ;  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the  light  thereof 


63  LECTURE  III. 


LECTURE    III. 

AUTHENTICITY    AND    INTEGRITY    OF   THE    NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

OUR  attention  was  exclusively  occupied,  during  the  last 
lecture,  in  tracing  up  the  line  of  testimony  by  which  the 
church  of  Christ,  in  these  days,  is  certified  that  her  sacred 
books,  composing  the  volume  of  the  New  Testament,  are 
those  very  books  which  were  written  by  the  apostles  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  A  series  of  attestations  was  followed  up,  by 
which  we  were  conducted  into  the  very  age  and  presence  of 
the  apostles,  and  enabled  to  inquire  of  those  who,  having 
been  their  contemporaries,  and  in  habits  of  intercourse  with 
them,  must  necessarily  have  known  what  books  they  wrote. 
A  mass  of  evidence  was  obtained,  by  which  the  authenticity 
of  the  New  Testament  was  placed  on  the  most  immoveable 
basis.  But,  inasmuch  as  we  are  now  laying  the  foundation 
of  our  subsequent  and  more  direct  arguments  for  the  truth 
of  Christianity  as  a  divine  revelation,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  that,  in  respect  to  this  preliminary  subject,  every 
mind  be  well  assured,  and  that  nothing  of  importance  to  the 
impressiveness,  as  well  as  sufficiency,  of  the  evidence,  be 
omitted.  In  the  present  lecture,  therefore,  we  pursue  still 
farther  the  question  to  which  the  last  was  devoted. 

From  the  whole  tenor  of  the  previous  lecture,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament ;  in  other  words, 
the  collection  of  those  books  which  were  considered  as  the 
mspired  and  authoritative  writings  of  the  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists, to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  was  not  made  without 
great  care,  and  the  most  deliberate,  intelligent  investiga- 
tion Such  is  the  witnessing  of  an  eminent  writer  of  the 


LECTURE  III.  69 

fourth  century.  "  Our  canonical  books  (says  Augustine), 
which  are  of  the  highest  authority  among  us,  have  been  set- 
tled with  great  care  :  they  ought  to  be  few,  lest  their  value 
should  be  diminished;  and  yet  they  are  so  many,  and  writ- 
ten by  so  many  persons,  that  their  agreement,  throughout,  is 
wonderful."*  The  method  pursued  by  the  early  Christians 
in  determining  what  books  had  a  just  claim  to  the  character 
of  canonical  scriptures,  was  precisely  that  by  which  we  have 
been  investigating  the  same  subject.  It  was  not  enough,  for 
the  reception  of  a  writing,  that  it  came  to  them  under  the 
name  of  an  apostle,  and  was  considered  by  some  as  justly 
entitled  to  that  honour.  Its  descent  was  carefully  traced. 
How  was  it  regarded  by  the  preceding  generation,  and  by 
the  generation  before  that?  Was  it  known  by  those  who 
lived  nearest  the  time  and  the  person  associated  with  its 
claims  ?  Had  it  been  received  by  the  churches ;  referred  to 
and  quoted,  as  possessing  canonical  authority,  by  Christian  wri- 
ters since  the  period  of  its  general  publication  ?  Had  it  been 
handed  down  by  the  general  and  concurrent  tradition  of  the 
church,  written  and  unwritten,  as  the  work  of  the  writer 
whose  name  it  bears?  Such  was  the  mode  which,  we  know 
from  the  remaining  works  of  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  Eusebius, 
Cyril,  and  Augustine,  &c.,  was  employed  in  their  days,  and 
in  all  times  of  the  primitive  church.  "  The  books  of  the 
canonical  scriptures  (says  Augustine),  established  in  the  times 
of  the  apostles,  and  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the  suc- 
cession of  bishops  and  churches,  in  all  following  times,  are 
placed  in  a  peculiar  degree  of  authority,  to  which  the  judg- 
ment and  understanding  of  all  pious  men  are  subject." 

The  numerous  catalogues  which  have  descended  to  us 
from  the  early  centuries,  are  sufficient  evidence  of  the  care 
with  which  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  settled. 
Ln  primitive  times,  when,  from  a  variety  of  causes,  spurious 

*  Lardner,  ii.  596. 
f> 


70  LECTURE  III. 

books  abounded,  and  the  distant  and  scattered  churches, 
incapable  of  much  intercourse  with  those  near  the  centre 
of  Christian  light,  were  most  liable  to  be  deceived,  these 
catalogues  were  of  the  greatest  importance.  How  nume- 
rous they  must  have  been,  may  be,  in  somewise,  conceived 
from  the  fact  that,  although  a  very  small  portion  only  of 
the  works  of  the  first  four  centuries  are  extant,  there  are 
among  them  no  less  than  thirteen  independent  catalogues, 
all  of  them  composed  by  authors  scattered  over  only  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty,  out  of  the  first  four  hundred  years 
after  the  birth  of  Christ. 

The  same  care  is  seen  in  the  pains  that  were  taken  to 
obtain  the  most  exact  information  as  ,o  the  authenticity  of  the 
books  bearing  apostolic  names  ;  as  well  as  from  the  decisive 
censure  and  aversion  with  which  an  attcm  )t  to  pass  a  spu- 
rious work  upon  the  church,  was  visited.  Pious  and  learned 
heads  of  the  churches  used  to  journey  to  Palestine,  and  reside 
there  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  for  the  express  object 
of  obtaining  whatever  valuable  k:  \owledge  might  be  found 
there,  as  to  the  New  Testament  writings.  And  of  the  treat- 
ment bestowed  upon  attempted  lo  rgeries,  we  have  an  example 
in  the  case  of 'a  certain  presbyte:  of  Asia,  soon  after  the  death 
of  St.  John,  who  publish  d  a  book,  Wtiich  is  still  extant,  un- 
der the  title  of  the  Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla.  The  attempt 
at  imposition  was  charged  upon  the  author,  and  confessed. 
Whereupon  he  was  degraded  from  his  office,  and  the  whole 
matter  was  notified  to  the  churches,  that  they  might  feel  the 
aeed  of  the  strictest  care  thereafter.* 

The  gradual  steps  by  which  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  multiplied  to  their  present  number,  afforded  the 
best  opportunity  for  a  careful  and  accurate  determination  of 
their  authenticity.  Had  they  all  appeared  at  once,  claiming, 
in  their  collective  form,  to  be  received  by  the  churches  as  in- 

*  Lardner,  i.  435. 


LECTURE  III.  71 

spired  scripture ;  the  attention  of  Christians  being  thus  divi 
ded  among  twenty-seven  independent  writings  which  pro- 
fessed to  have  been  written  by  eight  different  authors,  the 
diligence  of  their  investigation  would  have  been  also  divided; 
its  accuracy  would  have  been  endangered,  and  the  opportu- 
nity of  imposition  greatly  increased.  But  such  was  not  the 
case.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  published 
Singly.  They  came  before  the  churches,  one  by  one,  with 
considerable  intervals  between  them,  thus  giving  time  for  the 
claims  of  each  to  be  deliberately  and  singly  examined.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  church  in 
the  city  of  Rome,  and  had  its  authority  as  a  writing  of  St. 
Paul  determined,  without  embarrassment  from  any  question 
as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The 
Ephesians  received  the  Epistle  directed  to  them,  and  could 
sit  in  judgment  upon  its  claims,  without  any  necessity  of  de- 
ciding, at  that  time,  upon  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  or  Corinthians,  or  Philippians.  Thus  were  there 
several  years  between  the  beginning  and  completion  of  the 
canon  of  the  New  Testament.  For  a  little  while,  a  portion  of 
the  church  might  possess  an  additional  book,  which  a  distant 
region,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  multiplying  and  trans- 
mitting copies,  would  not  have  received.  It  may  have  been 
a  period  of  some  years  before  a  church  in  the  distant  parts  of 
Asia  received  and  was  enabled  satisfactorily  to  authenticate 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Meanwhile  the  canon  of  scrip- 
lure  might  be  composed  of  more  books  at  Rome  than  at  the 
church  supposed. 

How  long  this  state  of  things  continued ;  or  when  precisely 
the  canon  was  closed,  is  a  question  rather  of  curiosity  than  of 
importance ;  the  authenticity  and  canonical  character  of  any 
particular  book  being  independent  of  its  determination.  We 
know  that  the  principal  parts  of  the  New  Testament  were 
collected  before  the  death  of  St.  John,  or  at  least  not  long  sub- 
sequent to  that  event.  But  what  individual,  or  what  assem- 


LECTURE  III. 


blage  of  persons,  collected  them;  where,  and  precisely  when. 
the  work  was  done,  we  may  indulge  in  plausible  conjecture, 
but  cannot  certainly  ascertain.     But  what  connexion  have 
such  matters  with  the  question  of  apostolic  origin  ?    If  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  or  the  gospel  of  Matthew  was  written 
by  the  disciple  whose  name  it  bears,  it  surely  matters  little 
when  it  became  the  companion  of  other  authentic  books  in 
the  formation  of  a  separate  volume ;  or  who  arranged  its 
place  in  that  volume ;  or  when  an  assemblage  of  Christian 
fathers  inserted  its  name  in  a  catalogue,  and  published  it  to 
the  churches  as  a  canonical  writing.     It  was  canonical  as 
soon  as  it  was  composed.     It  was  a  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  the  moment  of  its  birth.     Had  the  books  of  scrip- 
ture never  been  collected  into  a  volume,  but  kept  in  separation, 
as  they  were  first  published,  to  the  present  time,  although 
their  preservation  would  have  been  more  difficult,  their  au 
thority  would  have  been  the  same,  and  the  canon  of  the  New 
Testament  complete.     Had  no  father  of  the  church,  nor  any 
ecclesiastical  council  ever  issued  a  declaration  of  opinion  as 
to  what  writings  should  be  included  in  the  list  of  canonical 
scriptures,  we  should  have  wanted  indeed  much  valuable 
testimony  now  possessed  from  such  sources  ;  but  the  essential 
claim  of  each  inspired  book  to  a  place  in  the  canon  would 
have  remained  unaltered.     To  substantiate  the  title  of  any 
portion  of  the  New  Testament  to  so  honourable  a  place,  we 
need  only  the  proof  that  it  was  written  by  the  apostle  or 
evangelist  to  whom  it  is  ascribed.     For  this  we  require  the 
testimony  of  primitive  antiquity.     So  far  as  the  opinion  of 
ancient  councils  or  authors  is  deserving  of  attention,  as  a 
matter  of  testimony,  it  is  of  value  in  the  settlement  of  the 
canon;  and  in  this  view,  such  opinion  is  unquestionably  of 
the  highest -importance;  and  what  we  have  already  exhi- 
bited of  this  kind,  deserves  the  greatest  consideration.     But 
the  point  to  be  especially  noted  is,  that  the  proof  of  authen- 
ticity in  the  subject  before  us,  is  the  proof  of  canonical  autho- 


LECTURE  III.  73 

rily ,  that  the  canon  began  when  the  first  Gospel  or  Epistle 
was  published  ;  that  it  increased  with  every  additional  pub- 
lication by  inspired  men,  and  was  complete  and  closed,  the 
moment  the  last  writing  of  the  New  Testament  was  issued 
to  the  churches ;  though  at  the  same  time  but  few  of  them 
may  have  been  acquainted  with  it ;  no  ecclesiastical  assem- 
bly may  have  sanctioned  it,  and  no  union  had  been  made 
with  other  inspired  books,  so  as  to  present  them  to  the 
churches  as  a  collection  of  canonical  writings,  under  the 
general  name  of  the  New  Testament. 

As  to  the  arrangement  of  these  books  in  a  single  volume, 
it  must  have  been  a  work  of  time,  according  to  the  relative 
situation  and  intercourse  of  any  particular  region  of  Chris- 
tianity. "Those  churches  which  were  situated  nearest  to 
the  place  where  any  particular  books  were  published,  would, 
of  course,  obtain  copies  much  earlier  than  churches  in  remote 
parts  of  the  world.  For  a  considerable  period  the  collection 
of  these  books  in  each  church  must  have  been  necessarily 
incomplete,  for  it  would  take  some  time  to  send  to  the  church 
or  people  with  whom  the  autographs  were  deposited,  and  to 
write  off  fair  copies.  This  necessary  process  will  also  account 
for  the  fact,  that  some  of  the  smaller  books  were  not  received  by 
the  churches  so  early,  nor  universally,  as  the  larger.  The  soli- 
citude of  the  churches  to  possess,  immediately,  the  more  exten- 
sive books  of  the  New  Testament,  would  doubtless  induce 
them  to  make  a  great  exertion  to  acquire  copies ;  but,  proba- 
bly, the  smaller  would  not  be  so  much  spoken  of,  nor  would 
there  be  so  strong  a  desire  to  obtain  them  without  delay. 
Considering  how  difficult  it  is  now,  with  all  our  improve- 
ments in  the  typographical  art,  to  multiply  copies  of  the 
scriptures  with  sufficient  rapidity,  it  is  truly  wonderful  how 
so  many  churches  as  were  founded  during  the  first  century. 
to  say  nothing  of  individuals,  could  all  be  supplied  with 
copies  of  the  New  Testament,  when  there  was  no  speedier 
method  of  producing  them  than  by  writing  every  letter  with 

6* 


74  LECTURE  III. 

the  pen .  Even  as  early  as  the  time  when  Peter  wrote  his 
second  Epistle,  the  writings  of  Paul  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  churches,  and  were  classed  with  the  other  scriptures.* 
And  the  citation  from  these  books  by  the  earliest  cliristian 
writers,  living  in  different  countries,  demonstrates  that,  from 
the  time  of  their  publication,  they  were  sought  after  with 
avidity,  and  were  widely  dispersed."  "  How  intense  the 
interest  which  the  first  Christians  felt  in  the  writings  of  the 
apostles  can  scarcely  be  conceived  by  us,  who  have  beon 
familiar  with  these  books  from  our  earliest  years.  How  soli- 
citous would  they  be,  for  example,  who  had  never  seen  Paul, 
but  had  heard  of  his  wonderful  conversion  and  extraordinary 
labours  and  gifts,  to  read  his  writings  ?  And  probably  they 
who  had  enjoyed  the  high  privilege  of  hearing  this  apostle 
preach  would  not  be  less  desirous  of  reading  his  Epistles  ! 
As  we  know  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  well  as  from 
testimony,  that  many  uncertain  accounts  of  Christ's  dis- 
courses and  miracles  had  obtained  circulation,  how  greatly 
would  the  primitive  Christians  rejoice,  to  obtain  an  authentic 
history  from  the  pen  of  an  apostle,  or  from  one  who  wrote 
precisely  what  was  dictated  by  an  apostle  ?  We  need  no 
longer  wonder,  therefore,  that  every  church  should  wish  to 
possess  a  collection  of  the  writings  of  the  apostles ;  and 
knowing  them  to  be  the  productions  of  inspired  men,  they 
would  want  no  further  sanction  of  their  authority.  All  that 
was  requisite,  was  to  be  certain  that  the  book  was  indeed 
written  by  the  apostle  whose  name  it  bore."t  Hence  the  care 
of  St.  Paul,  as  he  commonly  wrote  by  an  amanuensis,  to 
I  lave  the  salutation  in  his  own  hand,  or  to  annex  his  signa- 
ture :  as,  for  example,  in  the  second  Epistle  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians :  "  The  salutation  of  Paul  with  mine  own  hand, 
which  is  the  token  in  every  Epistle :  so  I  write."  Hence, 
.•ilso,  the  care  so  often  manifest  in  the  Epistles,  to  designate 

*  2  Fetcr,  in.  14,  15.         t  Alexander  on  the  Canon,  p.  138,  &c. 


LECTURE   III.  75 

those  by  name  to  whom  the  office  of  carrying  them,  whitl  ter 
they  were  addressed,  was  intrusted. 

From  the  authorities  quoted  in  the  previous  lecture,  it 
must  be  full  in  your  recollection  that  while  the  agreement 
of  the  ancient  churches  may  be  considered  to  have  been 
complete,  so  far  as  is  important  to  the  argument  for  the  di- 
vine origin  of  Christianity ;  still  there  was  a  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  authenticity  and  canonical  authority  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews;  of  the  Epistle  of  James;  the  se- 
cond of  Peter  ;  the  second  and  third  of  John  ;  the  Epistle  of 
Jude ;  and  the  book  of  Revelation.  This  diversity  was  not, 
by  any  means,  so  great  or  important  as  some  suppose.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  great  care  and  candour  of  those  early 
Christians,  from  whom  we  learn  the  fact,  it  would  have 
seemed  of  too  limited  an  extent,  and  too  inconsiderable  in  its 
origin,  to  merit  any  more  than  a  very  transient  notice  in  their 
writings.  But  we  have  no  reason  to  regret  the  publicity 
they  have  given  it.  They  have  thus  put  into  our  hands  a 
very  strong  proof  of  the  discriminating  care  and  jealous  vigi- 
lance with  which  the  primitive  churches  investigated  the 
title  of  any  book  to  admission  into  the  canon  of  the  New 
Testament.  That  some  were  doubted,  though  afterwards 
universally  acknowledged,  exhibits  in  a  very  strong  light  the 
certain  authenticity  of  all  those  of  which  there  was  never  a 
question. 

The  canonical  authority  of  the  six  Epistles  above  named, 
as  well  as  of  the  Apocalypse,  has  no  material  connexion  with 
the  argument  of  the  ensuing  lectures.     The  evidence  of  the 
divine  oripin  and  revelation  of  Christianity  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  question  of  their  authenticity.     Should  we 
acknowledge  them  to  be  spurious,  no  point  of  Christian  doc- 
trine or  duty  would  be  removed ;  no  gospel  truth  would  bo 
shaken ;  no  evidence  of  divine  revelation  would  be  dimin- 
ished.    To  vindicate  their  authenticity  cannot,  therefore,  be 
required  of  a  lecturer  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity.     It  is 


76  LECTURE  III 

the  appropriate  office  of  the  biblical  critic,  and  belongs  to  dis- 
cussions on  the  canon  of  scripture,  and  to  the  prolegomena 
of  a  commentary,  instead  of  the  course  we  are  now  pursuing. 
But  lest  the  mere  statement  of  the  fact  that  doubts  were  once 
entertained  as  to  the  authenticity  of  these  writings,  should 
leave  on  some  minds  an  impression  unfavourable  to  their 
character,  as  inspired  scriptures,  it  will  be  well  to  bestow  a 
moment's  attention  to  the  amount  of  importance  to  which 
those  doubts  are  justly  entitled. 

With  regard  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  no  question 
was  entertained  as  to  its  being  the  work  of  St.  Paul,  among 
the  churches  of  the  earlier  centuries,  except  those  of  the 
Latin  Christians.  The  fact  that  the  Arians  were  the  first  in 
the  Greek  churches  who  are  said  to  have  denied  that  it  was 
written  by  St.  Paul,  is  an  important  testimony  in  its  favour. 
The  objections  of  the  Latins  did  not  pretend  to  any  ecclesi- 
astical tradition,  or  any  authority  of  earlier  churches,  in  op- 
position to  its  Pauline  origin ;  but  were  based  entirely  on  its 
internal  character,  and  especially  on  the  handle  which  the 
fourth  and  fifth  verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  seemed  to  afford 
the  sect  of  the  Montanists,  in  vindication  of  their  prominent 
doctrine,  that  those  guilty  of  grievous  transgressions  should 
be  irrevocably  cut  off  from  the  church.  Hence  it  was  that 
Jerome  and  Augustine,  though  of  the  Latins,  could  not  adopt 
the  opinions  held  by  many  of  their  contemporaries,  being 
convinced  of  their  incorrectness,  by  the  testimony  of  the  an- 
cient churches  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  all  those  who  questioned  the 
canonical  authority  of  this  Epistle,  treated  it  with  high  re- 
spect as  a  Christian  and  very  ancient  writing  of  the  apostolic 
age,  if  not  by  an  apostle's  hand.  They  ascribed  it  either  to 
Barnabas  or  Clement.  But  for  this  they  had  no  testimony  to 
appeal  to.  On  the  contrary,  the  testimony  of  the  earliest 
Christian  writers  is  very  decidedly  for  St.  Paul.  The  fathers 
of  the  Greek  church  unanimously  ascribed  it  to  him.  Je- 


LECTURE  III.  77 

rome,  of  the  fourth  century,  testifies  that  it  was  received  as  a 
production  of  that  apostle,  not  only  by  the  eastern  churches, 
but  by  all  the  Greek  ecclesiastical  writers.  "  I  receive  it 
(said  he)  as  genuine — guided  by  the  authority  of  the  ancient 
writers."  Eusebius,  the  historian  of  the  church  of  the  fourth 
century,  quotes  it  as  the  work  of  St.  Paul,  and  says  it  had, 
not  without  reason,  been  reckoned  among  the  other  writings 
of  the  apostle.  Theodoret  positively  asserts  that  Eusebius 
received  this  Epistle  as  St.  Paul's,  and  that  he  manifested 
that  almost  all  the  ancients  were  of  the  same  opinion.  Au- 
gustine said  "  he  followed  the  opinion  of  the  churches  of  the 
east,  who  received  it  among  the  canonical  scriptures."  Ori- 
gen,  born  A.  D.  184,  expresses  his  opinion  that  "it  was  not 
without  cause  that  the  ancients  (i.  e.  the  immediate  succes- 
sors of  the  apostles)  regarded  this  as  an  Epistle  of  Paul." 
The  internal  evidence  is  decidedly  in  favour  of  its  having 
been  written  by  that  apostle.  The  salutation  from  the  Jew- 
ish Christians  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Italy  (Heb.  xiii. 
24.),  and  the  mention  of  Timothy  as  his  fellow  traveller  (xiii. 
23.),  are  very  applicable  to  Paul.  Not  only  does  the  general 
scope  of  this  Epistle  tend  to  the  same  point  on  which  so 
much  stress  is  laid  in  his  other  writings,  that  we  are  justified 
only  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  that  the  works  and  institutions 
of  the  law  are  of  no  avail  to  our  salvation ;  but  there  are 
also  various  propositions  found  in  it  which  are  conspicuous 
in  his  other  works.  The  same  characteristic  warmth  and 
energy  of  expression  appear  in  this  as  in  all  writings  ascribed 
in  the  New  Testament  to  the  pen  of  St.  Paul.  Hebraisms 
abound  in  it  as  in  his  other  Epistles.  It  contains  particular 
expressions,  phrases,  and  collocations  of  words,  which  are 
either  peculiar  to  him,  or  are  most  frequent  in  his  composi 
tions.*  But  as  this  is  not  the  place  to  do  justice  to  a  question 
of  so  much  importance,  and  yet  not  material  to  the  argument 

*  Smueker's  translation  of  Storr  and  Flatt's  Bib.  Theology. 


LECTURE    III. 


of  these  lectures,  1  must  refer  you,  for  further  knowledge  and 
satisfaction,  to  the  learned  and  complete  work  of  professor 
Stuart,  of  Andover,  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  or  to  an 
excellent  article  in  the  "  Biblical  Notes  and  Dissertations," 
recently  from  the  pen  of  Joseph  John  Gurney,  of  the  society 
of  Friends,  in  England. 

The  Epistle  of  James,  being  addressed  to  Jewish  believers, 
was  for  some  time,  to  a  considerable  extent,  unknown  to  the 
Gentile  Christians.  While  this  was  the  case,  its  authenticity 
was  questioned,  or  rather  was  not  certified  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. As  soon  as  this  ceased  to  be  the  case,  its  authenticity 
was  undoubted.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  the  character 
of  this  Epistle,  that  in  the  Syriac  version,  made  at  the  end  of 
the  first  or  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  while  the 
second  Epistle  of  Peter,  the  second  and  third  of  John,  and 
the  Apocalypse,  are  omitted,  the  Epistle  of  James,  written 
particularly  to  the  people  for  whom  the  version  was  made,  is 
included  and  placed  on  an  equality  with  all  those  books  about 
which  there  was  never  a  question  in  the  church.  In  pro- 
portion as  it  became  known  among  the  Gentile  Christians,  it 
passed  through  a  severe  and  accurate  scrutiny,  till,  in  a  short 
time,  it  was  universally  received,  and  has  ever  since  been 
universally  honoured,  as  an  authentic  and  inspired  portion 
of  the  oracles  of  God. 

With  regard  to  the  remaining  Epistles,  concerning  the 
authenticity  of  which  doubts  were  for  a  while  entertained,  it 
will  suffice  to  remark  in  this  place,  that  the  fact  of  their  not 
having  been  immediately  recognised  throughout  the  church 
is  the  works  of  the  apostles,  only  shows  that  the  persons 
who  were  in  doubt  had  not  yet  received  sufficient  informa- 
tion to  make  up  their  judgment ;  and  that  the  primitive 
Christians,  so  far  from  being  so  greedy  after  additions  to  the 
sacred  canon  as  to  be  easily  deceived  by  a  plausible  preten- 
sion to  apostolic  origin,  were  extremely  deliberate  and  cautious 
in  examining  every  candidate  for  admission  into  the  cata- 


LECTURE  III.  79 

logue  of  scripture.  Such  being  the  case,  tl  le  subsequent  re- 
ception of  these  Epistles,  as  soon  as  full  time  was  given  them 
to  be  uni  versally  circulated  and  known,  is  pt  rfect  proof  that 
they  were  capable  of  enduring  the  most  trying  investigation 
of  their  inspired  origin,  and  were  honoured  with  a  unanimous 
verdict  as  the  veritable  writings  of  those  to  whom  they  were 
ascribed,  and  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  word  of  God.  The 
reader  may  find  abundant  satisfaction,  with  regard  to  them, 
in  Dr.  Alexander's  excellent  work  on  the  canon  ol'  scripture. 
It  has  been  stated,  that  at  one  period  doubts  were  entertain- 
ed in  the  churches  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  book  of  Reve- 
lation. Those  doubts  imply  no  deficiency  of  testimony. 
Until  the  fourth  century,  the  character  of  this  book  was  un- 
doubted, and  its  authority  was  universally  acknowledged ; 
only  one  writer  questioning  whether  John  the  evangelist  was 
its  author,  and  even  he  admitting  that  it  was  written  by  in- 
spiration of  God.  About  the  commencement  of  the  fourth 
century,  the  Millenarian  controversy  having  arisen  and  dis- 
tracted the  churches,  and  the  mysterious  character  of  the 
book  having  been  extensively  employed  in  the  support  of 
new  and  extravagant  doctrines,  its  character  declined;  and 
without  any  reference  to  testimony  in  the  case,  its  authenti 
city  was  by  some,  though  by  no  means  universally  or  for  a 
long  time,  brought  into  question.  Thus  Eusebius,  of  that 
century,  after  having  given  a  catalogue  of  the  books  univer- 
sally acknowledged,  writes  :  "  After  these,  if  it  be  thought  fit, 
may  be  placed  the  Revelation  of  John,  concerning  which  we 
shall  observe  the  different  opinions  at  a  proper  time."  And 
in  another  place :  "  There  are,  concerning  this  book,  different 
opinions."  "  This  is  the  first  doubt  expressed  by  any  re 
spectable  writer,  concerning  the  canonical  authority  of  this 
book ;  and  Eusebius  did  not  reject  it,  but  would  have  placed 
it  next  after  those  which  were  received  with  universal  con- 
sent. And  we  find,  at  this  very  time,  the  most  learned  and 
judicious  of  the  fathers  received  the  Revelation  without  scru- 


80  LECTURE  III. 

pie,  and  annexed  it  to  their  catalogues  of  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament."*  It  is  of  no  small  importance  that  a  book 
so  full  of  evidence  against  the  heresies  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Priestley,  should  have  received  from  his  pen  the  following 
testimony :  "  This  book  of  Revelation,  I  have  no  doubt,  was 
Avntten  by  the  apostle  John.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  with  great 
1  ruth,  says,  he  does  iiotjind  any  other  book  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment so  strongly  attested,  or  commented  upon  so  early  as 
this.  Indeed  I  think  it  impossible  for  any  intelligent  and 
candid  person  to  peruse  it  without  being  struck,  in  the  most 
forcible  manner,  with  the  peculiar  dignity  and  sublimity  of 
its  composition,  superior  to  that  of  any  other  writing  what- 
ever; so  as  to  be  convinced  that,  considering  the  age  in 
which  it  appeared,  none  but  a  person  divinely  inspired  could 
have  written  it."t  It  is  true,  and  at  first  may  seem  surpris- 
ing, that  while  a  majority  of  the  ancient  catalogues  contain 
this  book,  there  are  many  in  which  it  is  omitted  ;  though  it 
is  known  that  the  authors  of  some  of  these  acknowledged  its 
authenticity.  The  omissions  are  satisfactorily  explained  by 
the  consideration  that  the  object  of  these  catalogues  was  the 
guidance  of  the  people  in  reading  the  scriptures  ;  and  since 
the  mysteriousness  of  this  book  and  the  use  made  of  it,  on 
the  side  of  the  Millenarian  errors,  when  the  catalogues  were 
chiefly  composed,  seemed  to  render  it  inexpedient  that  it 
should  be  as  generally  read  as  the  other  scriptures,  its  name 
was  excluded  from  several  lists  of  books  for  universal  use, 
without  any  intention  of  pronouncing  upon  its  canonical 
character. 

Having  now  exhibited  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  be  it  remarked 
that,  while  every  part  of  the  sacred  volume  is  of  inspired  au- 
thority, and  therefore  of  such  importance  as  that  no  man  can 
take  away  from  it  or  add  unto  it  without  heinous  offence 

*  Alexander  on  the  Canon.       t  Priestley's  Notes  on  Scripture. 


LECTURE  III.  81 

against  God ;  still  the  argument  for  the  divine  mission  of 
Jesus  and  for  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity  depends  chiefly 
upon  the  historical  portions,  and  would  exhibit  no  deficiency 
were  no  attention  paid  to  the  authenticity  of  the  others.  In 
what  remains  to  be  said,  by  way  of  addition  to  the  various 
and  unequalled  evidence  already  adduced,  we  shall  have  a 
view  particularly  to  the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

The  testimony  of  the  adversaries  of  Christianity. 

It  may  be  said,  with  some  appearance  of  a  plausible  ob- 
jection to  the  testimony  hitherto  produced,  that  it  is  all  de- 
rived, either  from  the  devoted  friends  of  the  gospel,  or  else 
from  those  who  professed  to  be  its  disciples.  Is  there  no 
testimony  from  enemies  ?  The  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  widely  circulated ;  Christian  advocates,  in  their  contro- 
versies with  the  Heathen,  freely  appealed  to  them ;  Heathens, 
in  their  works  of  attack  and  defence,  must  have  spoken  of 
them.  In  what  light  did  they  regard  them  ?  Did  they  as- 
cribe them  to  their  reputed  authors,  or  question  their  authen- 
ticity? Now  we  do  not  grant  that  the  testimony  already 
produced  is  justly  liable  to  the  least  disparagement  on  account 
of  its  having  been  derived  exclusively  from  the  friends  of 
Christ.  That  certain  ancients  believed  the  facts  contained 
in  Caesar's  Commentaries  has  never  been  supposed  to  dimin- 
ish the  value  of  their  testimony  to  the  authenticity  of  that 
work.  We  will  take  occasion,  by  and  by,  to  show  that  the 
very  fact  that  an  early  witness  to  the  New  Testament  his- 
tory was  not  an  enemy,  but  a  friend,  of  the  gospel,  and  had 
become  a  friend  from  having  been  once  an  enemy,  is  just  the 
ingredient  in  his  testimony  that  gives  it  peculiar  conclusive 
ness.  Still,  however,  we  are  under  no  temptation  to  under 
value  the  importance  of  an  appeal  to  the  opinions  of  adver- 
saries. Let  us  inquire  of  enemies  as  well  as  friends — and 
first  of  Julian. 

Julian,  the  emperor,  united    intelligence,  learning,  and 
power,  with  a  persecuting  zeal,  in  a  resolute  effort  to  root  out 

7 


82 


LECTURE  III. 


Christianity  In  the  year  361,  he  composed  a  work  ajrainst 
its  claims.  We  may  be  well  assured  that  if  any  thing  could 
have  been  said  against  the  authenticity  of  its  books,  he  would 
have  used  it.  His  work  is  not  extant;  but  from  long  ex- 
tracts, found  in  the  answer  by  Cyril,  a  few  years  after,  as 
well  as  from  the  statements  of  his  opinions  and  arguments 
by  this  writer,  it  is  unquestionable  that  Julian  bore  witness 
to  the  authenticity  of  the  four  Gospels  and  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  He  concedes,  and  argues  from,  their  early 
date ;  quotes  them  by  name  us  the  genuine  works  of  their 
reputed  authors ;  proceeds  upon  the  supposition,  as  a  thing 
undeniable,  thai  they  were  the  only  historical  books  which 
Christians  received  as  canonical — the  only  authentic  narra- 
tives of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  of  the  doctrine  they 
delivered.  He  has  also  quoted,  or  plainly  referred  to,  the 
Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Corinthians,  and  Galatians,  and 
nowhere  insinuates  that  the  authenticity  of  any  portion  of 
the  New  Testament  could  reasonably  be  questioned.*  Let 
us  ascend  a  little  higher. 

Hierocles,  president  of  Bithynia,  and  a  learned  man,  of 
about  the  year  303,  united,  with  a  cruel  persecution  of 
Christians,  the  publication  of  a  book  against  Christianity, 
in  which,  instead  of  issuing  even  the  least  suspicion  that 
the  New  Testament  was  not  written  by  those  to  whom  its 
several  parts  were  ascribed,  he  confines  his  effort  to  the  hunt 
of  internal  flaws  and  contradictions.  Besides  this  tacit 
acknoAvledgment,  his  work,  or  the  extracts  of  it  that  remain, 
refer  to,  at  least,  six  out  of  the  eight  writers  of  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament,  t  Let  us  ascend  still  higher. 

Porphyry,  universally  allowed  to  have  been  the  most 
severe  and  formidable  adversary,  in  all  primitive  antiquity, 
•wrote,  about  the  year  270,  a  work  against  Christianity.  It  is 
evident  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  New  Testament. 

*  Lardner,  iv.  341.  t  Ib.  iv.  259. 


LECTURE    III.  83 

In  the  little  that  has  been  preserved  of  his  writings,  there 
are  plain  references  to  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark, 
and  John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.*  Speaking  of  Christians,  he  calls  Matthew  their 
evangelist.  "  He  possessed  every  advantage  which  natural 
abilities  or  political  situation  could  afford,  to  discover  whether 
the  New  Testament  was  a  genuine  work  of  the  apostles 
and  evangelists,  or  whether  it  was  imposed  upon  the  world 
after  the  decease  of  its  pretended  authors.  But  no  trace  of 
this  suspicion  is  any  where  to  be  found ;  nor  did  it  ever  occur 
to  Porphyry  to  suppose  that  it  was  spurious."  t  How  well 
this  ingenious  writer  understood  the  value  of  an  argument 
against  the  authenticity  of  a  book  of  scripture,  and  how 
greedily  he  would  have  enlisted  it  in  his  war  against  Chris- 
tianity, could  he  have  found  such  a  weapon,  is  evident  from 
his  well  known  effort  to  escape  the  prophetic  inspiration  of 
the  book  of  Daniel,  by  denying  that  it  was  written  in  the 
times  of  that  prophet.  We  may  ascend  still  higher. 

Celsus,  esteemed  a  man  of  learning  among  the  ancients, 
and  a  wonderful  philosopher  among  modern  iniidels,  wrote 
a  laboured  argument  against  the  Christians.  He  flourished 
in  the  year  176,  or  about  seventy-six  years  after  the  death 
of  St.  John.  None  can  accuse  him  of  a  want  of  zeal  to 
ruin  Christianity.  None  can  complain  against  his  testimony, 
as  deficient  in  antiquity.  An  industrious,  ingenious,  learned, 
adversary  of  that  age,  must  have  known  whatever  was 
suspicious  in  the  authorship  of  the  New  Testament  writings 
His  book  entitled  "  The  True  Word"  is  unhappily  lost , 
but  in  the  answer,  composed  by  Origen,  the  extracts  from 
it  are  so  large,  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  of  any  ancient  booh, 
not  extant,  more  extensive  remains.  The  author  quotes, 
from  the  Gospels,  such  a  variety  of  particulars,  even  in 
these  fragments,  that  the  enumeration  would  prove  almost 

*  Lardner,  iv.  234.  t  Marsh's  Michaelis,  i.  43. 


84  LECTURE   III. 

an  abridgement  of  the  Gospel  narrative.  *  Origen  has  noticed 
in  them  about  eighty  quotations  from  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  or  references  to  them.  Among  these  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  Celsus  was  acquainted  with  the 
Gospels  of  Matthew,  Luke  and  John.  Several  of  Paul's 
Epistles  are  alluded  to.  His  whole  argument  proceeds  upon 
the  concession  that  the  Christian  scriptures  were  the  works 
of  the  authors  to  whom  they  were  ascribed.  Such  a  thing 
as  a  suspicion,  to  the  contrary,  is  not  breathed  ;  and  yet  no 
man  ever  wrote  against  Christianity  with  greater  virulence. 
Hence  it  appears,  u  by  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  most 
malicious  adversaries  the  Christian  religion  ever  had,  and 
who  was  also  a  man  of  considerable  parts  and  learning,  that 
the  writings  of  the  evangelists  were  extant  in  his  tune,  which 
was  the  next  century  to  that  in  which  the  apostles  lived ; 
and  that  those  accounts  were  written  by  Christ's  own  disci- 
ples, and,  consequently,  in  the  very  age  in  which  the  facts 
there  related,  were  done,  and  when,  therefore,  it  would  have 
been  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  have  convicted  them 
of  falsehood,  if  they  had  not  been  true."  t  "  Who  can  for- 
bear (says  the  devout  Doddridge)  adoring  the  depth  of  divine 
wisdom,  in  laying  up  such  a  firm  foundation  of  our  faith 
in  the  gospel  history,  in  the  writings  of  one  who  was  so 
inveterate  an  enemy  to  it,  and  so  indefatigable  in  his  attempts 
to  overthrow  it."t  Who,  I  will  add,  can  help  the  acknow- 
ledgment that  in  Celsus,  Porphyry,  Hierocles,  and  Julian, 
all  of  them  learned  controversionalists,  as  well  as  devoted 
opponents  and  persecutors  of  Christians,  extending  their 
testimony,  from  the  seventieth  year  after  the  last  of  the 
apostles,  to  the  year  of  our  Lord  361 — every  reasonable  de- 
mand for  the  testimony  of  enemies  is  fully  met,  and  a  gra- 

*  Doddridge,  in  Lardner,  iv.  145  and  7. 

t  Answer  to  "Christianity  as  old  as  the  Creation,"  by  LelanJ,  vol.  ii.  e. 
v.  p.  150—154. 
t  Doddridge,  in  Lardner,  iv.  147 


LECTURE  III.  85 

cious  Providence  has  perfected  the  external  evidence  for  the 
authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  ? 

We  proceed  to  confirm  the  abounding  proof,  already  ad- 
duced, by  a  brief  reference  to  the  language  and  style  of  the 
New  Testament. 

I.  The  language  and  style  are  in  perfect  accordance  with 
the  local  and  other  circumstances  of  the  reputed  writers. 
They  were  Jews  by  birth;  Jews  by  education;  Jews  by 
numerous  and  strong  attachments ;  Jews  in  all  their  asso- 
ciations of  thought  and  feeling.  Jews  were,  in  great  part, 
the  persons  to  whom  they  wrote.  Jewish  prejudices,  objec- 
tions, and  peculiarities,  were,  to  a  great  extent,  the  obstacles 
in  their  way.  The  religious  and  political  institutions  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  though  perfectly  exterminated  in  a  few  years 
after  they  wrote,  were  in  full  establishment  till  after  the  death 
of  all  of  them  except  St.  John.  Hence  it  is  reasonably  ex- 
pected that  Jewish  peculiarities  should  be  found  frequently 
and  broadly  stamped  upon  any  writings  truly  professing  to 
have  proceeded  from  their  pens.  Such,  notoriously,  is  the 
case  with  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament.  None  but 
Jews  could  have  composed  them.  None  but  Jews  who  lived 
before  the  destruction  of  their  temple,  and  city,  and  polity, 
and  nation,  could  have  cast  them  in  their  present  mould ;  or 
marked  them  with  all  those  indescribable  and  inimitable 
touches  of  a  Jewish  hand,  which  their  style  and  language 
every  where  exhibit.  The  use  of  words  and  phrases  which 
arc  known  to  have  been  peculiar  to  Judea  in  the  times  of  the 
apostles ;  the  continual,  familiar,  and  natural  allusions  to  the 
ceremonies  and  temple  service  of  the  Jews,  as  then  existing, 
and  which  soon  passed  away  ;  the  universal  prevalence  of 
a  mode  of  thinking  and  of  expression,  which  none  but  a 
Jew,  brought  up  under  the  Old  Testament,  always  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  religion  through  the  types  and  shadows  of 
the  law,  and  reared  amidst  the  usages,  prejudices,  associa- 
tions, and  errors  of  the  Jewish  people,  as  subsisting  in  the 

7* 


80 


LECTURE  III. 


times  of  the  apostles,  could  have,  introduced  without  awk- 
wardness and  obvious  forgery ;  all  bear  decided  witness,  not 
only  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  were  Jews  origi- 
nally, in  every  sense  ;  but  that  they  must  have  formed  their 
habits  of  thinking,  feeling  and  writing,  before  the  destruction 
of  the  Jewish  state  ;  in  other  words,  before  the  fortieth  year 
after  the  death  of  Christ.  From  that  time,  so  entirely  was 
every  vestige  of  the  religion  and  polity  of  the  Jews  destroyed, 
that,  except  among  those  whose  minds  had  been  moulded 
under  pre-existing  circumstances,  the  writing  of  a  book  in 
the  language  and  style,  and  abounding  in  the  peculiarities 
of  the  New  Testament,  would  have  been,  at  least,  next  to 
impossible. 

This  conclusion  will  appear  the  more  inevitable,  when  you 
consider  the  characteristic  features  by  which  the  Greek  of 
the  New  Testament  is  distinguished.  In  the  times  of  the 

V 

apostles,  Greek  was  almost  a  universal  language.  It  was 
spread  over  all  Palestine.  The  Jewish  coast,  on  the  Medi- 
terranean, was  occupied  by  cities,  either  wholly,  or  half 
Greek.  On  the  eastern  border  of  the  land,  from  the  Arnon 
upwards,  towards  the  north,  the  cities  were  Greek;  and, 
towards  the  south,  in  possession  of  the  Greeks.  Several 
cities  of  Judea  and  Galilee  were  either  entirely,  or,  at  least, 
half  peopled  by  Greeks.  "  Being  thus  favoured  on  all  sides, 
this  language  was  spread,  by  means  of  traffic  and  inter- 
course, through  all  classes,  so  that  the  people  (though  with 
many  exceptions),  considered  generally,  understood  it; 
although  they  adhered  more  to  their  own  language."*  But 
the  Greek,  thus  spoken  in  Palestine,  was  not  like  that  of 
Attica,  nor  of  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  ;  but  having  become 

'  O 

degenerated,  in  consequence  of  its  associations  witli  people 
whose  native  tongue  was  Hebrew,  by  means  of  Chaldee  and 


*  HUG  on  the  Greek  languages  in  Palestine. — Bib.  RepositiTy,  No.  III. 
Andover 


LECTURE  III.  87 

Syriac  intermixtures,  into  Western  Aramean,  it  contained  a 
large  share  of  the  idioms  and  other  peculiarities  belonging 
to  this  heterogeneous  neighbour.  Such  was  the  language 
in  which  the  apostles  must  have  written.  Now,  if  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament  be  their  writings,  they  must  contain 
the  characteristic  features  of  that  Palestine  Greek.  Such  is 
most  manifestly  the  case.  These  books  are  in  Greek,  but 
not  pure  and  classic,  such  as  a  native  and  educated  Grecian 
would  have  written  ;  but  in  Hebraic  Greek ;  in  a  language 
mixed  up  with  the  words  and  idioms  of  that  peculiar  dialect 
of  the  Hebrew  which  constituted  the  vernacular  tongue  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Judea  and  Galilee  in  the  age  of  the  apos- 
tles. Had  it  been  otherwise  ;  were  the  language  of  the  New 
Testament  pure  and  classic;  then  the  writers  must  have 
been  either  native  and  educated  Grecians,  or  else  Jews,  of 
much  more  Attic  cultivation  than  the  apostles  of  Christ. 
In  either  case  a  suspicion  would  attach  to  the  authenticity 
of  our  sacred  books.  Neither  case  being  true,  the  evidence 
of  authenticity  is  materially  confirmed. 

But  we  go  further.  The  Greek  of  the  New  Testament 
could  not  have  been  written  by  men  who  had  learned  their 
language  after  the  age  of  the  apostles.  This  mingling  of 
Grecian  and  Aramean,  as  it  is  preserved  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, ceased  to  be  the  familiar  tongue  of  Christians  in  Pales- 
tine before  the  death  of  St.  John.  When  Jerusalem,  with 
the  whole  civil  and  religious  polity  of  the  Jews,  was,  in  the 
^seventieth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  entirely  destroyed,  and 
the  descendants  of  Abraham  were  rooted  out  of  the  land, 
and  foreigners  came  in  from  all  quarters  to  take  their  places  ; 
the  language  of  the  country  underwent  such  a  change  thatj 
except  with  the  scattered  few  who  had  survived  the  desola- 
tion of  their  country,  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  was 
no  more  a  living  language.  When  St.  John  died,  there  was 
probably  not  a  man  alive  who  could  speak  or  write  precisely 
that  tongue.  In  the  second  century,  an  attempt  to  compose 


88  LECTURE   III. 

a  book  in  the  name  of  the  apostles,  and  in  imitation  of  their 
Greek,  would  have  been  detected  as  easily  as  if  a  full  bred 
Frenchman,  never  out  of  France,  should  attempt  to  com- 
pose a  volume  in  a  dialect  of  English,  and  endeavour  to 
pass  it  off  as  the  work  of  a  plain,  sensible,  but  unpolished 
Yorkshireman.  Hence,  while  doubts  were  entertained  for 
a  while,  in  some  parts  of  the  church,  as  to  the  authenticity 
of  some  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  it  Avas  never 
doubted  whether  they  were  written  by  men  who  had  lived 
when  the  Greek  of  Palestine,  as  it  had  been  in  the  apostolic 
age,  was  yet  alive. 

II.  The  language  and  style  of  the  New  Testament  are 
in  perfect  harmony  with  the  known  characters  of  the  reputed 
writers.  The  apostles  and  evangelists  were  men  of  plain, 
sound  understanding,  but  without  any  polish  of  education, 
and  not  likely  to  adorn  their  writings  with  much  rhetorical 
dress.  Paul,  the  only  exception  to  this  character,  was  well 
read  in  Jewish,  and,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  in  Grecian 
literature.  From  other  sources,  besides  the  New  Testament, 
we  are  informed  of  certain  peculiarities  of  natural  character, 
as  having  distinguished  some  of  those  to  whom  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament  are  ascribed.  John,  for  example,  is 
always  represented  in  ecclesiastical  history  as  having  been 
remarkable  for  meekness,  and  gentleness,  and  a  manner  and 
spirit  full  of  mild  affection.  Paul,  we  always  read  of  as 
characterized  by  prompt,  energetic  zeal  and  animated  bold- 
ness. If  the  books  bearing  their  names  were  written  by 
those  apostles,  we  must  expect  to  find  in  them  the  distinctive 
stamp  of  their  respective  characters.  So  it  is.  In  the  his- 
torical books,  none  of  which  the  educated  Paul  composed, 
there  is  no  ornament  of  style;  but  merely  the  simplicity, 
and  directness,  of  plain,  sensible  men,  honestly  relating  what 
they  familiarly  knew,  and  disregarding  style  in  their  intent- 
ness  upon  truth.  In  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  however,  the 
case  is  entirely  different.  There  we  behold  the  style  of  a 


LECTURE  III.  89 

writer  brought  up  in  the  schools,  though  obviously  in  the 
schools  of  Judca.  Accustomed  to  writing  and  to  argument, 
he  reasons  precisely  as  we  should  expect  of  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
after  having  been  educated  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  and  ar- 
rested by  divine  power  and  grace  on  the  road  to  Damascus 
and  made  to  "  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ."  Every  where  in  the  epistles, 
bearing  his  name,  are  written  the  strong  characters  of  the 
peculiar  zeal  and  boldness,  as  well  as  education,  that  belonged 
to  Paul ;  while  throughout  the  writings  ascribed  to  John, 
there  breathes  the  sweet  spirit  of  gentleness  and  tender 
atFection,  so  characteristic  of  "that  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved."  Similar  statements  might  be  made  with  regard  to 
other  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  in  proportion  as  their 
peculiarities  of  temperament  are  known  and  conspicuous. 

From  all  that  has  now  been  said,  it  may  easily  be  made 
to  appear,  that  if  the  historical  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  on  which  our  subse- 
quent argument  will  chiefly  depend,  be  not  authentic;  in 
plainer  terms,  if  they  be  forgeries,  nothing  less  than  a  mira 
cle  can  account  for  their  early  and  universal  currency.  Re- 
member that  John  lived  to  the  end  of  the  first  century.  It 
cannot  be  supposed  that  books,  falsely  pretending  to  have 
been  written  by  those  very  evangelists,  with  whom  he  had 
been  so  intimately  associated,  and  one-of  them  professing  to 
have  l)een  written  by  himself,  could  have  gained  a  reputable 
currency  in  the  churches  while  he  lived.  He  certainly  knew 
what  he  and  the  other  evangelists  had  published ;  and  no 
motive  can  be  assigned  that  could  have  induced  him  to  suffer 
a  forgei  y  to  pass  unexposed.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that 
if  these  books  be  not  authentic,  they  must  have  been  palmed 
on  the  churches  after  the  death  of  John ;  that  is,  after  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century.  Suppose  we  descend  to 
the  third.  Can  it  be  imagined  that  the  deception  was  intro- 
duced after  this  century  commenced?  Impossible  ;  since  by 


90  LECTURE  III. 

this  time,  the  books  in  question  were  read,  every  Lord's 
Day,  in  all  the  churches ;  quoted  by  writers  of  all  countries ; 
universally  received  as  the  oracles  of  God.  If  a  deception 
was  introduced  at  all,  it  was  brought  in  somewhere  between 
the  death  of  John  and  the  third  century — somewhere  in  the 
course  of  the  second.  Now,  to  obtain  a  clearer  view  of  the 
difficulties  which  such  an  attempt  must  have  had  to  over- 
come, let  it  be  supposed  that  during  the  present  year,  a  vol- 
ume containing  a  digest  of  laws,  under  the  title  of  "  Laws 
of  the  city  of  New  York"  should  appear  among  us,  pre- 
tending to  be  a  code  of  municipal  regulations,  composed, 
about  seventy  years  ago,  by  a  few  of  the  most  distinguished 
inhabitants  of  that  period ;  and  to  have  been  received  by  the 
citizens,  and  appealed  to  in  their  municipal  courts  ever  since, 
as  the  book  of  the  laws  of  this  city ;  claiming,  moreover,  to 
be  acknowledged  and  obeyed  by  the  present  generation  as 
the  very  code  inherited  from  their  fathers.  What  would  be 
its  chance  ?  A  moral  impossibility  would  prevent  its  sue 
cess.  Nothing  but  lunacy  would  undertake  such  a  scheme. 
It  would  be  enough  for  lawyers  and  judges  and  people  to 
say :  "  It  was  never  heard  of  before.  It  has  never  been 
known  in  our  courts."  But  this  is  only  a  feeble  illustration 
of  the  case  before  us.  If  the  books  in  question  were  forged 
in  the  name  of  the  evangelists,  you  must  suppose,  that  at 
some  period,  within  a  hundred  years  of  St.  John,  while 
many  were  living  who  had  either  known  him  personally  or 
conversed  with  those  who  did  enjoy  that  privilege,  a  volume 
appeared  among  the  churches,  differing  widely  from  those 
books  which,  as  works  of  the  evangelists,  they  had  received 
and  read  from  the  beginning,  and  yet  demanding  to  be  con- 
sidered as  nothing  more  nor  less  than  those  very  works. 
You  must  suppose  the  abettors  of  the  imposition  to  have 
said  to  the  various  nations  of  Christians :  "  These  are 
the  genuine  Gospels  in  which  you  were  educated ;  which 
your  fathers  died  for ;  which  your  persecutors  endeavoured 


LECTURE  III.  9) 

to  destroy,  and  your  martyrs  laboured  to  save  ;  which  have 
been  daily  read  in  your  families,  expounded  in  your  churches, 
quoted  in  your  writings,  and  appealed  to  in  all  your  con- 
troversies with  heretics  and  enemies."  And  yet  it  must 
be  supposed  that  Christians,  notwithstanding  their  notorious 
Jove  for  the  writings  of  the  evangelists,  and  their  great  care 
in  preserving  them,  were  so  easily  and  universally  imposed 
on,  as  never  to  perceive  that  these  fraudulent  works,  instead 
of  having  been  expounded  and  read  and  quoted  and  appealed 
to  in  all  their  churches,  had  never  been  heard  of  before. 
You  have  to  suppose,  moreover,  that  while  Christianity  was 
surrounded  on  all  sides  and  opposed  at  every  step  by  keen- 
sighted  and  determined  enemies — Jews,  on  the  one  hand, 
with  all  their  cunning — Greeks  and  Romans  on  the  other, 
with  all  their  skill  and  power,  ever  watching,  accusing,  and 
persecuting — none  of  them  ever  pretended  to  the  discovery 
that  these  books,  so  fraudulently  introduced,  were  not  those 
which  the  apostles  wrote  and  Christians  had  always  read  ; 
but  all  believed  them  to  be  the  identical  writings  to  which 
the  churches  had  invariably  referred  as  the  law  and  the 
testimony. 

You  must  go  still  further,  and  suppose  that  notwithstand- 
ing the  wide  publicity  which  the  genuine  works  of  the 
apostles  had  obtained  among  the  primitive  churches,  so 
immediately  did  these  spurious  productions  expel  them  from 
the  notice  and  recollection  of  all  people,  that  no  interval  is 
known  during  which  the  question  between  the  two  conflicting 
volumes  was  so  much  as  even  debated.  Instantly,  (you 
must  suppose),  that  the  spurious  were  treated  every  where 
with  the  reverence  belonging  to  inspired  books ;  that  though 
divers  sects  of  heresies  were  starting  up  in  various  parts,  all 
recognised  their  authority ;  that  the  churches  of  Rome,  Co- 
rinth, Ephesus,  Colosse,  Philippi,  Galatia,  and  Thessalo- 
nica,  all  believed  that  these  several  epistles,  falsely  pretending 
to  have  come  to  them  from  St.  Paul,  were  those  /ery  ones, 


92  LECTURE  ill. 

the  autographs  of  which  were  then  in  their  possession,  and 
copies  of  which  they  had  been  continually  reading  in  public 
from  the  time  the  originals  were  received  from  the  apostle. 
Lastly,  it  must  be  supposed,  that  so  perfect  was  the  forgeiy, 
that  although  every  weapon  and  artifice  that  wit,  and  learn- 
ing, and  power,  could  contrive,  has  been  employed,  during 
eighteen  hundred  years,  for  the  single  purpose  of  under- 
mining the  foundations  of  Christianity,  no  labourer  in  the 
cause  has  yet  succeeded  in  picking  a  flaw  in  the  authenticity 
of  its  books.  He  that  can  digest  all  this  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  that  our  sacred  writings  are  not  authentic,  can 
swallow  the  most  abject  absurdity.  He  supposes  an  endless 
succession  of  miracles  wrought  upon  innumerable  minds  for 
the  promotion  of  imposture.  He  believes  the  laws  of  nature 
to  have  been  continually  violated,  under  the  government  of 
a  holy  God,  to  countenance  unrighteousness.  In  sustaining 
this  belief,  he  must  adopt  a  principle  with  regard  to  miracles, 
the  boldness  and  novelty  of  which,  even  Hume  would  have 
been  jealous  of.  He  was  so  modest  as  only  to  maintain  that 
no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle.  Here,  however,  the  scep- 
tic must  maintain  that  the  most  absurd  miracle  can  be  proved, 
not  only  without  any  testimony,  but  against  all  testimony. 

Enough  has  now  been  said  to  enable  you  to  judge  whether 
the  learning  or  the  honesty  of  the  miserable  Paine  is  most  to 
be  admired,  when  he  says :  "  Those  who  are  not  much  ac- 
quainted with  ecclesiastical  history,  may  suppose  that  the 
book  called  the  New  Testament  has  existed  ever  since  the 
time  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  the  fact  is  historically  otherwise. 
There  was  no  such  book  as  the  'New  Testament  till  more 
than  three  hundred  years  after  the  time  that  Christ  is  said 
to  have  lived"  Whether  we  ought  to  save  this  poor  sceptic 
from  the  charge  of  a  gross  and  deliberate  falsehood,  by  im- 
puting to  him  disgraceful  ignorance,  I  leave  you  to  decide. 

And  now,  having  maintained  our  cause,  permit  me  to  say, 
that  in  a  .  ument  with  unbelievers,  we  cannot,  in  justice,  be 


LECTURE  III.  93 

required  to  present  any  of  the  evidence  to  which  you  have 
been  listening.  The  whole  burden  of  proof  lies  with  the 
objector.  Should  the  authenticity  of  Paradise  Lost  be  called 
in  question,  no  believer  in  its  Miltonian  origin  would  feel 
himself  called  upon  to  prove  it.  We  should  wait  in  calm- 
ness, till  the  sceptic  had  sustained  his  objection.  The  book 
has  lived  long  enough  with  a  fair  reputation  to  be  considered 
authentic,  till  proved  to  be  spurious.  So  would  common 
justice  warrant  us  in  saying  with  regard  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Eighteen  centuries  of  high  and  holy  reputation  are 
enough  to  sustain  its  authenticity,  till  sceptics,  besides  pro- 
nouncing, shall  prove  it  a  forgery.  Let  the  objector  be  kind 
enough  to  state  the  proof  of  its  spuriousness  ;  let  him  show 
(he  deficiencies  in  its  evidence ;  let  him  establish  objec- 
tions to  its  legitimacy,  which  all  the  enemies  that  sur- 
rounded its  birth  were  unable  to  venture ;  then  will  it  be 
time  for  friends  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  and  prove  its 
apostolic  parentage.  But  this  we  know  not  that  any  opposer 
of  Christianity  ever  pretended  to  have  done.  How  these 
tooks  were  forced  upon  the  world ;  when  Christians  were  so 
asleep  as  not  to  perceive  that  they  were  not  the  books  which 
they  had  always  been  reading,  and  consulting,  and  expound- 
ing, and  loving,  and  suffering  for;  when  the  enemies  of 
Christians  were  so  miraculously  blinded  and  the  den  of  lions, 
in  which  the  church  for  so  many  centuries  existed,  \vas  so 
miraculously  hushed  and  overruled,  that  such  an  imposture 
could  gain  admission,  and  dwell  in  universal  quietness,  with- 
out so  much  as  one  paw  to  pounce  on  the  prey,  or  one  vigil 
ant  foe  to  discover  its  existence — what  is  the  evidence  that 
such  an  event  ever  took  place ;  I  never  heard  of  a  human 
being  undertaking  to  show.  You  might  as  well  pretend  to 
prove  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  circulated  in 
numberless  copies  through  the  country,  is  not  authentic ; 
that  our  revolutionary  fathers  published  no  such  document, 

or  else  that  ours  is  not  the  declaration  which  they  published 

8 


94 


LECTURE  III. 


The  adversaries  of  Christianity  are  wary.  It  would  require 
learning,  and  time,  and  talents,  to  make  even  a  plausible 
show  of  strength,  in  conflict  with  the  testimony  to.  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  New  Testament;  but  it  takes  no  time,  re 
quires  no  talent,  or  knowledge,  for  such  persons  to  insinuate 
that  its  books  are  forgeries — to  put  out  a  wise  suspicion  that 
they  were  not  written  by  the  original  disciples.  No  argu- 
ment can  refute  a  sneer,  nor  any  human  skill  prevent  its 
mischief.  They  know  that  many  a  mind  will  catch  thf 
plague  of  infidelity  by  the  touch  of  their  insinuation,  with- 
out ever  finding,  or  caring  to  seek,  the  antidote.  Any  body 
can  soil  the  repute  of  an  individual,  however  pure  and 
chaste,  by  uttering  a  suspicion,  which  his  enemies  will  be- 
lieve, and  his  friends  never  hear  of.  A  puff  of  idle  wind 
can  take  up  a  million  of  the  seeds  of  the  thistle,  and  do  a 
work  of  mischief  which  the  husbandman  must  labour  long 
and  hard  to  undo  ;  the  floating  particles  being  too  trifling  to 
be  seen,  and  too  light  to  be  stopped.  Such  are  the  seeds  of 
infidelity — so  easily  sown — so  difficult  to  be  gathered  up, 
and  yet  so  pernicious  in  their  fruits.  It  is  the  work  of  God, 
much  more  than  of  man,  that  they  do  not  spread  more  ra- 
pidly and  widely.  The  hand  of  Divine  Providence  inter- 
poses to  arrest  it,  where  the  regular  array  of  human  reasoning 
would  have  no  room  to  use  its  strength. 

Here  we  should  leave  the  subject,  were  it  not  that  one 
question  of  importance  remains  to  be  answered.  How  do 
we  know  that  the  New  Testament  has  preserved  its  integ- 
rity ?  While  it  appeals  so  conclusively  that  our  present 
books  are  verily  those  which  the  evangelists  and  apostles 
wrote,  and  the  primitive  churches  loved  and  read ;  how  does 
it  appear  that  they  have  undergone  no  material  alteration 
since  those  times?  On  this  head,  the  answer  is  complete. 

We  may  reason  from  the  perfect  impossibility  of  any  ma- 
terial alteration.  The  scriptures,  as  soon  as  written,  were 
published.  Christians  eagerly  sought  for  them ;  copies 


LECTURE  III.  95 

were  multiplied ;  carried  into  distant  countries ;  esteemed  a 
sacred  treasure,  for  which  disciples  were  willing  to  die. 
They  were  daily  read  in  families,  and  expounded  in  churches ; 
writers  quoted  them ;  enemies  attacked  them  ;  heretics  en- 
deavoured to  elude  their  decisions  ;  and  the  orthodox  were 
vigilant,  lest  the  former,  in  their  efforts  to  escape  the  inter- 
pretation, should  change  the  text.  In  a  short  time,  copies 
were  scattered  over  the  whole  inhabited  portion  of  the  earth. 
Versions  were  made  into  different  languages.  Harmonies,  ' 
and  collations,  and  commentaries,  and  catalogues,  were  care- 
fully made  and  published.  Thus  universal  notoriety,  among 
friends  and  enemies,  was  given  to  every  book.  How,  in  such 
circumstances,  could  material  alterations  be  made  without 
exposure  ?  If  made  in  one  copy,  they  must  have  been  made 
universally  |  or  else  some  unaltered  copies  would  have  de- 
scended to  us,  or  would  have  been  taken  notice  of  and  quoted 
in  ecclesiastical  history,  and  the  writings  of  ancient  times. 
If  made  universally,  the  work  must  have  been  done  either 
by  friends,  or  by  heretics,  or  by  open  enemies.  Is  it  suppo- 
sable  that  open  enemies,  unnoticed  by  Christians,  could  have 
altered  all  or  a  hundreth  part  of  the  copies,  when  they  were 
so  continually  read,  and  so  affectionately  protected  ?  Could 
the  sects  of  heretics  have  done  such  a  work,  when  they  were 
ever  watching  one  another  as  jealously,  as  all  their  doings 
were  continually  watched  by  the  churches?  Could  true 
Christians  have  accomplished  such  a  task,  even  if  any  mo- 
tive could  have  led  them  to  desire  it,  while  heretics  on  one 
hand,  and  innumerable  enemies  on  the  other,  were  always 
awake  and  watchful,  with  the  scriptures  in  their  hands,  to 
lay  hold  of  the  least  pretext  against  the  defenders  of  the 
faith  ?  It  was  at  least  as  unlikely  that  material  alterations 
in  the  New  Testament  should  pass  unnoticed  and  become 
universal,  in  the  early  centuries  and  in  all  succeeding  ones, 
as  that  an  important  change  in  a  copy  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  should  creep  into  all  the  copies  scattered 


96  LECTURE  III. 

over  the  country,  and  be  handed  down  as  part  of  the  original 
document,  unnoticed  by  the  various  parties  and  jealousies 
by  which  that  instrument  is  so  closely  watched,  and  so  con- 
stantly referred  to.  Such  was  the  precise  assertion  of  a 
writer  of  the  fourth  century,  on  this  very  subject.  "The  in- 
tegrity (says  Augustine)  of  the  books  of  any  one  bishop,  how- 
ever eminent,  cannot  be  so  completely  kept  as  that  of  the 
canonical  scripture,  translated  into  so  many  languages,  and 
kept  by  the  people  of  every  age ;  and  yet  some  there  have 
been,  who' have  forged  writings  with  the  names  of  apostles. 
In  vain,  indeed,  because  that  scripture  has  been  so  esteemed, 
so  celebrated,  so  known."*  Reasoning  with  a  heretic,  he 
says :  "  If  any  one  should  charge  you  with  having  interpo- 
lated some  texts  alleged  by  you,  would  you  not  immediately 
answer  that  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  do  such  a  thing  in  books 
read  by  all  Christians  ?  And  that  if  any  such  attempt  had 
been  made  by  you,  it  would  have  been  presently  discerned  and 
defeated  by  comparing  the  ancient  copies  ?  Well,  then,  for 
the  same  reason  that  the  scriptures  cannot  be  corrupted  by 
you,  neither  could  they  be  corrupted  by  any  other  people."t 
The  agreement  among  the  existing  manuscripts  of  the 
New  Testament,  proves  that  this  holy  volume  has  not  teen 
corrupted.  Of  no  ancient  classic  are  the  extant  manuscripts 
so  numerous,  as  those  of  the  New  Testament.  Griesbach, 
in  making  his  edition,  collated  more  than  three  hundred  and 
fifty.  These  were  written  in  different  ages  and  countries. 
Some  of  them  are  as  old  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  century. 
Some  contain  all,  others  only  particular  books  or  parts  of 
books  of  the  New  Testament.  Several  contain  detached 
portions  or  lessons,  as  appointed  to  be  read  on  certain  occa- 
sions in  the  churches.  In  none  of  them  have  we  any  thing 
differing  in  essential  points  from  the  text  at  present  received. 
It  is  true,  and  it  sounds  to  uninformed  ears  quite  alarming- 

*  Lardner,  ii.  594.  t  Ib.  ii.  228. 


LECTURE  III. 


97 


that  in  the  manuscripts  collated  for  Griesbach's  edition  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand various  readings  are  said  to  have  been  found.  But  all 
alarm  will  seem  Gratuitous  when  it  is  known  that  not  one  in 

O 

a  thousand  of  these  various  readings  makes  any  perceptible, 
or  at  most  any  important  variation  of  meaning  ;  that  they 
consist  almost  entirely  in  manifest  mistakes  of  transcribers, 
such  as  the  omission  or  transposition  of  letters,  errors  in 
pointing,  in  grammar,  in  the  use  of  certain  words  instead' of 
others  of  similar  meaning,  and  in  changing  the  position  of 
words  in  a  sentence.  The  very  worst  manuscript,  were  it 
our  only  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  would  not  pervert  one 
Christian  doctrine  or  precept.  By  all  the  omissions  and  all 
the  additions  contained  in  all  the  manuscripts,  no  fact,  no 
doctrine,  no  duty,  presented  in  our  authorized  version,  is  ren- 
dered either  obscure  or  doubtful.  The  diversity  of  readings 
is  ample  proof  that  our  present  manuscripts  were  made  from 
various  copies  in  ancient  times ;  while  the  inconsiderable 
importance  of  this  diversity  of  readings  shows  how  nearly 
those  copies  conformed  to  the  original  scriptures,  and  how 
little  difference  would  be  seen  between  our  present  New  Tes- 
tament and  the  autographs  of  its  writers,  could  they  be  now 
collated.  No  ancient  book  has  preserved  its  text  so  uncor- 
rupt  as  those*  of  the  New  Testament.  None  is  attended  with 
so  many  means  of  detecting  an  inaccurate  reading.  A  com- 
mon reader,  could  he  compare  the  various  manuscripts, 
would  be  sensible  of  no  more  difference  among  them  than 
among  the  several  copies  of  his  English  Bible,  which  have 
been  printed  during  the  last  two  hundred  years. 

The  uncorrupt  preservation  of  the  text  of  the  New  Testa 
ment  is  also  evident  from  its  agreement  with  the  numerous 
quotations  in  the  works  of  early  Christian  writers,  and  with 
those  ancient  translations  which  are  now  extant.  In  the 
remaining  books  of  the  fathers  of  the  first  three  centuries, 

quotations  from  the  New  Testament  are  so  abundant,  that 

8* 


98  LECTURE    III. 

almost  the  whole  of  the  sacred  text  could  be  gathered  from 
those  sources.  Excepting  some  six  or  seven  verses,  the 
genuineness  of  which  is  not  perfectly  settled,  there  is  an 
exact  agreement,  in  all  material  respects,  between  those  quo- 
tations and  the  corresponding  parts  of  our  New  Testament. 
The  same  confirmation,  though  still  more  satisfactory,  is 
derived  from  ancient  versions.  We  possess,  in  various  lan- 
guages, versions  of  the  New  Testament,  reaching  as  far 
baek  as  the  early  part  of  the  second  century.  The  Mseso 
Gothic  version,  discovered  by  Mai  in  1817,  and  made  by 
Ulphilas,  bishop  of  the  Maeso  Goths,  in  the  year  370,  of 
which  only  fragments  were  possessed  before,  has  the  same 
text  as  ours.  The  old  Syriac  version,  called  Peshito,  is  con- 
sidered by  some  of  the  best  Syriac  scholars  to  have  been 
made  before  the  close  of  the  first  century.  It  was  certainly 
in  existence  and  general  use  before  the  close  of  the  second. 
Though  never  brought  into  contact  with  our  copies  of  the 
New  Testament,  because  not  known  in  Europe  till  the  six- 
teenth century ;  though  handed  down  by  a  line  of  tradition 
perfectly  independent  of,  and  unknown  to,  that  by  which  our 
Greek  Testament  was  received  ;  yet,  when  the  two  came  to 
be  compared,  the  text  of  the  one  was  almost  an  exact  version 
of  the  text  of  the  other.  The  difference  was  altogether 
unimportant.  So  clearly  and  impressively  has* Divine  Pro- 
vidence attested  the  integrity  of  our  beloved  scriptures. 

It  is  now  high  time  we  had  relieved  your  attention.  You 
will  allow  me  to  proceed,  in  the  subsequent  lectures,  on  the 
belief  that  the  authenticity  and  integrity  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment have  been  satisfactorily  proved.  But  let  us  not  sepa- 
rate without  acknowledging,  in  thankfulness  of  heart,  our 
debt  of  gratitude  to  Him  who,  on  a  subject  of  such  unspeak- 
able importance,  has  given  us  such  abundant  reason  for 
complete  conviction.  He  has  made  the  great  truth,  for 
which  we  have  been  contending,  like  "the  round  world,  so 
mire,  that  it  cannot  be  moved" 


LECTURE  IV.  99 


LECTURE    IV. 

CREDIBILITY     OF     THE     GOSPEL      HISTORY. 

IN  the  last  two  lectures  our  attention  was  occupied  with 
the  authenticity  and  integrity  of  the  New  Testament.  A 
body  of  proof  was  presented,  of  such  variety  and  conclu- 
siveness,  as  should  cause  us  to  feel  that,  in  taking  these 
important  points  for  granted  in  our  subsequent  course,  we 
assume  nothing  which  every  candid  mind  should  not  acknow- 
ledge to  have  been  satisfactorily  established.  You  will 
allow  me,  therefore,  to  treat  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  needing  no  further  argument  to  prove  that  they  were 
written  in  the  age  to  which  they  are  ascribed,  and  by  the 
authors  whose  names  they  bear. 

But  it  should  be  remembered,  that  a  book  may  be  authen- 
tic, and  yet  not  credible.  It  may  have  been  written  indeed 
by  the  reputed  author,  and  yet  its  narrative  may  not  be 
worthy  of  confidence.  This,  I  say,  is  a  possible  case.  Ex- 
amples illustrating  it  are  not  numerous.  So  generally  do 
authentic  histories  prove  to  be  true,  that  when  we  have  ascer- 
tained a  book  to  have  been  composed  by  the  individual  whose 
name  is  on  it,  we  have  a  strong  presumptive  argument  for 
the  truth  of  all  the  conspicuous  and  important  features  in  its 
narrative.  But  inasmuch  as  these  two  things  are  not  always 
associated,  an  important  question  remains  to  be  determined, 
before  we  can  open  the  New  Testament  as  the  book  of  the 
life  and  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  worthy  of 
entire  reliance,  as  an  account  of  what  was  done  and  taught 
by  himself  and  his  apostles.  Does  the  New  Testament  con- 
tain a  true  history  of  events  connected  with  the  ministry  of 


100  LECTURE    IV. 

Jesus  and  his  primitive  disciples,  so  that  we  may  receive  as 
historically  accurate  whatever  is  related  therein?  This 
refers  to  what  is  usually  called  the  credibility  of  the  gospel 
history,  and  expresses  the  subject  of  our  present  lecture. 

13i  1 1  lest  the  bearing  of  my  remarks  should  not  be  distinctly 
understood,  I  will  endeavour  to  state  the  subject  still  more 
precisely.  Observe  then ;  it  is  not  the  inspiration  of  the 
gospel  history,  or  that  it  was  written  by  holy  men  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  we  shall  seek  to  prove 
this  evening ;  nor  that  it  contains  a  revelation  from  God ; 
nor  that  its  doctrines  are  true ;  nor  that  any  of  its  facts  were 
miraculous ;  these  are  subjects  which  it  would  be  premature 
to  introduce  at  present.  All  at  which  we  now  aim,  is  to  fur- 
nish conclusive  evidence  that  the  gospel  history  is  true,  in 
the  same  sense  as  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington  is  true — 
that  what  it  relates,  as  matter  of  fact,  is  worthy  of  entire 
reliance  as  matter  of  fact,  independently  of  all  inferences  or 
doctrines  with  which  it  may  be  connected. 

How  do  we  prove  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  history  ? 
I  answer :  precisely  as  you  would  ascertain  the  credibility  of 
any  other  history.  Though,  as  in  the  case  of  authenticity, 
we  are  ready  to  produce  a  variety  and  an  abundance  of  evi- 
dence, far  exceeding  what  the  best  established  and  the  most 
unquestionable  books  of  ancient  profane  history  can  pretend  to, 
still  the  nature  of  the  evidence  is  the  same  in  one  case  as  the 
other.  The  fact  that  one  history  is  called  sacred,  and  the 
other  profane ;  that  in  one  book,  the  actions  of  a  holy  and 
extraordinary  philanthropist,  named  Jesus,  are  related ;  and 
in  another  the  actions  of  a  wicked  and  extraordinary  man- 
slayer,  named  Caesar,  are  related ;  occasions  not  the  least 
difference  in  the  nature  of  the  evidence  by  which  the  credi- 
bility of  both  must  be  ascertained. 

Here  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  and  reasonable  to  rest  the 
question  of  credibility  upon  the  proof  arrived  at  in  the  last 
lecture.  Although  it  does  not  follow,  in  all  cases,  that  to 


LECTURE  IV. 


101 


prove  a  book  authentic,  is  to  prove  it  credible  also,  with 
regard  to  its  principal  events,  yet  in  the  case  before  us,  the  fact 
that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written  in  the 
first  century  of  Christianity,  and  by  the  apostles  and  original 
disciples  of  Christ,  is  complete  evidence  that,  in  respect  to 
the  main  events  of  the  gospel  history,  they  are  true.  If  one 
should  write  a  romance,  calling  it  the  memoir  of  some  well 
known  and  distinguished  personage,  and  publish  it,  not  as 
grave,  credible  biography,  but  under  the  character  of  a  novel, 
the  authenticity  of  the  work  would  have  no  connexion  with 
its  truth.  But  should  he  issue  a  book  professing  to  be  the 
true  biography  of  Washington ;  should  he  vouch  in  every 
way  for  its  truth,  and  stake  his  reputation  upon  its  accuracy, 
in  the  midst  of  a  generation  familiar  with  the  life  of  that 
noble  man,  and  still  containing  some  who  were  his  compan- 
ions and  the  eye-witnesses  of  many  of  his  deeds,  it  would  bo 
reasonably  inferred  that,  unless  the  author  were  an  idiot  or  a 
madman,  his  work  must  be  correct,  at  least,  in  the  great  mass 
of  its  statements  and  in  all  its  conspicuous  events,  fie  must 
be  aware  that,  under  such  circumstances,  no  important  nar- 
rative without  truth  could  escape  detection.  The  fact,  there- 
fore, that  he  has  published,  in  the  midst  of  this  generation, 
what  he  expects  to  be  received  as  a  correct  biography  of 
Washington,  is  sufficient  warrant  that,  however  inaccurate 
it  may  be  in  minute  details,  and  however  deficient  in  many 
respects  of  good  writing  and  useful  history,  we  may  safely 
receive  its  principal  narratives.  Such  a  thing  cannot  be  pro- 
duced as  a  book  published  in  the  age  to  which  its  events 
are  said  to  have  occurred,  and  among  the  people  to  whose 
minds  those  events  are  said  to  have  been  familiar ;  a  book 
which  its  author  gravely  avowed,  and  defended,  as  true  and 
accurate  ;  and  yet  in  its  principal  narratives,  in  its  prominent 
characters  and  occurrences,  was  not  in  accordance  with  fact, 
Men  have  too  much  sense,  if  not  too  much  honesty,  to  at- 
tempt such  a  Quixotic  adventure ;  especially  when  character 


102  LECTURE    IV. 

and  worldly  interests  are  committed  by  the  falsehood.  But 
there  is  no  book,  to  which  this  remark  is  so  applicable  as  the 
New  Testament.  Not  only  was  it  published  in  the  age  in 
which  the  events  related  are  asserted  to  have  occurred,  and 
among  the  people  to  whom  they  are  said  to  have  been  noto- 
rious ;  but  in  an  age  and  among  a  people  awake  to  the  whole 
subject  of  its  history ;  determined  to  sift  its  correctness  to 
the  uttermost;  capable  of  the  severest  scrutiny,  and  anxious 
to  take  advantage  of  the  smallest  inaccuracy.  This  the 
writers  were  perfectly  aware  of.  They  must  have  known 
that  in  the  brevity  of  the  history  ;  in  the  fewness  of  its  prin- 
cipal facts  ;  in  the  great  prominence  and  notoriety  of  each  ; 
in  the  few  persons  to  whom  they  belong,  as  their  leading 
agents  ;  in  the  few  places  and  the  confined  region  in  which 
they  are  said  to  have  occurred ;  and  in  the  brief  space  of 
time  within  which  they  were  all  embraced  ;  their  adversaries 
possessed  advantages  for  investigation  which  nothing  but 
bold  and  plain  truth  could  confront,  and  no  fiction  could  pos- 
sibly elude.  That,  in  the  face  of  all  these  advantages,  they 
did  publish,  and  stake  their  characters  and  lives  upon  the 
correctness  of  their  narratives,  is  a  full  warrant  that  they 
published  truth.  This  argument  can  only  be  escaped  by 
charging  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  with  a  degree  of 
idiocy  or  madness,  which  the  eminent  wisdom  and  excellence 
of  their  works  prove  to  have  been  impossible.  I  venture  to 
say,  that  should  the  same  argument  be  alleged  with  equal 
force  in  behalf  of  any  other  ancient  book  of  history,  its 
credibility,  as  to  the  main  events  related  would  be  considered, 
independently  of  any  other  evidence,  as  placed  beyond  a 
reasonable  suspicion. 

Here,  then,  we  might  proceed  to  open  the  New  Testament 
as  a  book  of  correct  narrative ;  certified  that,  because  authen- 
tic, it  is  therefore,  as  to  all  important  matters  of  fact,  credible. 
But  we  are  not  restricted  to  a  single  method  of  proof.  The 
subject  is  compassed  about  with  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  We 


LECTURE  IV  103 

take  up  another  and  broader  plan  of  argument,  the  force  of 
which  none  can  mistake. 

Let  me  ask  by  what  sort  of  evidence  you  would  feel 
assured  of  the  credibility  of  any  history,  professing  to  relate 
events  of  a  passed  age?  Suppose  you  should  discover  a 
volume  hitherto  concealed,  professing  to  have  been  written 
by  some  well  known  individual  of  the  Augustan  age,  and  to 
contain  a  narrative  of  events  in  the  personal  history  and 
domestic  life  of  Augustus  Caesar.  You  would  first  examine 
into  its  authenticity.  That  settled,  you  would  inquire  into 
the  credibility  of  its  narrative.  The  first  question  would  be, 
did  the  writer  possess  every  advantage  of  knowing  the  events 
in  the  personal  history  of  Augustus?  May  I  depend  on  the 
sufficiency  of  his  knowledge  ?  Now  he  may  not  have  lived 
with  Augustus,  and  yet  his  knowledge  may  have  been  per- 
fectly adequate.  But  your  mind  would  be  fully  satisfied  on 
this  head,  should  it  appear  that  the  writer  was  not  only  a 
contemporary,  but  that  he  was  domesticated  with  Augustus ; 
conversed  familiarly  with  him,  lived  at  his  table,  assisted  at 
his  councils,  accompanied  him  on  his  journeys. 

The  question  of  adequate  knowledge  being  thus  at  rest, 
another  would  remain — May  I  depend  on  the  honesty  of  the 
writer  ?  In  ordinary  cases,  you  would  be  satisfied  if  nothing 
appeared  in  the  book  itself,  or  in  the  testimony  of  contempo- 
raneous writings,  impeaching  his  honesty.  But  your  satis- 
faction would  be  much  increased  should  you  discover,  in  the 
style  and  spirit  of  the  narrative,  in  its  simplicity,  modesty, 
and  freedom  of  manner,  in  the  circumstantial  character  of 
its  details  and  the  frequency  of  its  allusions  to  time,  place, 
and  persons,  those  internal  features  of  honesty,  which  it  is 
so  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  counterfeit.  Your 
confidence  would  grow  exceedingly  if,  on  a  comparison  of 
the  book  with  other  well  established  histories  of  the  same 
times,  you  should  discover,  not  only  that  there  is  no  contra- 
diction in  any  particular,  but  that  all  its  allusions  to  the 


104  LECTURE  IV. 

customs,  institutions,  prejudices,  and  political  events  of  the 
times,  are  abundantly  confirmed  from  other  sources.  This 
would  set  the  honesty  of  the  writer  in  a  very  favourable  light. 

But  suppose  that,  at  this  stage,  you  should  discover  three 
other  books,  upon  the  same  subject ;  each  evidently  written 
by  a  person  in  the  family  and  confidence  of  Augustus,  or 
else  with  equally  favourable  opportunities  of  knowing  him  ; 
each  evidently  an  independent  work,  .and  having  all  the 
inward  and  outward  marks  of  truth  before  detailed.  Sup- 
pose, that  on  comparing  these  four  histories  together,  you 
find  that,  while  each  contains  some  minor  facts  which  the 
others  do  not,  and  relates,  what  all  contain  in  common,  in 
its  own  style  and  language,  there  is  no  disagreement  among 
them ;  but  on  the  contrary,  the  most  perfect  confirmation, 
one  of  another.  Surely,  after  this»  no  further  evidence  could 
be  demanded  of  the  veracity  of  all  those  historians.  But 
still,  though  you  would  have  no  right  to  require,  you  might 
perhaps  discover  additional  evidence.  You  might  search 
collateral  history  for  the  private  characters  of  those  writers  ; 
and  how  would  it  heighten  your  satisfaction  to  find  that 
universally  they  were  esteemed  beyond  reproach,  even  by 
their  personal  opponents.  You  might  also  inquire  what  mo- 
tive they  could  have  had  for  deception ;  and  how  conclusive 
would  it  seem  in  their  favour  to  discover  that,  so  far  from 
any  suspicion  of  such  a  motive  attaching  to  them,  they  had 
undertaken  to  publish  what  they  did,  with  the  certainty  of 
sacrificing  every  thing  earthly,  and  actually  plunged  them- 
selves by  it  into  poverty,  contempt,  and  suffering.  One  can 
hardly  imagine  stronger  evidence  of  truth.  None  could, 
with  any  reason,  require  it. 

But  yet  there  might  be  additional  evidence.  These  hilto- 
rians,  perhaps,  had  many  and  bitter  personal  adversaries. 
How  did  they  treat  their  books  ?  The  books  were  published 
during  the  lifetime  of  many  who  had  seen  Augustus,  and 
had  witnessed  the  principal  events  described:  they  were 


LECTURE  IV.  105 

published  in  the  very  places  where  those  events  took  place, 
and  in  the  midst  of  thousands  who  knew  all  about  them, 
How,  then,  did  their  enemies  treat  these  histories?  Now, 
should  you  discover  that  the  personal  adversaries  of  these 
four  writers,  however  disposed,  were  unable  to  deny,  but  on 
the  contrary  acknowledged,  assumed,  and  reasoned  upon 
their  narratives  as  true ;  and  furthermore,  that  the  thousands 
who  had  witnessed  the  principal  events  recorded,  never 
contradicted  those  narratives,  but  in  numerous  instances  af- 
forded all  the  confirmation  they  were  capable  of ;  1  am  sure 
you  would  think  the  whole  evidence  for  the  credibility  of 
those  four  histories,  not  only  conclusive,  but  singularly  and 
wonderfully  so. 

I  have  thus  sketched  a  mass  of  evidence,  and  a  variety  of 
adequate  evidence,  which,  were  the  half  of  it  required  for 
any  book  of  ancient  history  but  the  Bible,  would  bring  its 
credibility  into  utter  condemnation.  If  a  book,  with  all  this 
in  its  favour,  ought  not  to  be  believed,  historical  truth,  or 
the  possibility  of  ascertaining  it,  must  be  given  up.  But 
who  would  think  of  resisting  such  evidence?  What  would 
be  thought  of  the  intellect,  not  to  speak  of  the  candour  of 
the  man,  who,  with  all  this  before  him,  should  take  up  the 
memoirs  of  the  life  of  Augustus  Caesar,  as  above  supposed, 
and  not  feel  that  it  were  the  absurdest  folly  to  question  the 
accuracy  of  their  statements  ?  In  laying  out  this  sketch,  I 
have  exhibited  a  general  view  of  the  evidence  for  the  credi- 
bility of  the  gospel  history.  In  proceeding,  now,  to  more 
particular  details,  I  hope  to  show  you  that  every  branch  of 
the  evidence  I  have  glanced  at,  however  vain  to  seek  it  in 
favour  of  any  other  ancient  history,  can  be  cited  in  attesta- 
tion of  the  credibility  of  that  in  the  New  Testament. 

From  the  brief  view  we  have  taken  of  the  evidence  which 
may  be  brought  for  the  credibility  of  any  historical  docu- 
ment, it  appears  that  the  great  points  to  be  made  out  in  favour 
of  the  writer  are  these  two — competent  knowledge  and  trust- 


IOC  LECTURE   IV. 

worthy  honesty.  Did  he  know  enough  to  write  a  true  ac- 
count? and  then,  was  he  honest  enough  to  be  unable  to 
write  any  other  than  a  true  account  ?  Establish  these,  and 
the  book  is  established — the  question  is  closed.  Let  us  take 
tins  plan  as  to  the  history  before  us.  We  have  several  inde- 
pendent writings  containing  the  gospel  history.  Let  us 
select  that  of  St.  John,  and  try  the  question  first  upon  it. 
We  begin,  then,  with  this  most  important  inquiry : 

I.  Had  the  writer  of  this  book  sufficient  opportunities  of 
possessing  adequate  knowledge  as  to  those  matters  of  fact 
which  he  has  related  ?  I  do  not  suppose  that  much  array  of 
argument  can  be  necessary  to  prove  that  he  had  every  oppor- 
tunity. It  is  to  be  first  considered  that  the  amount  of 
knowledge  required  to  enable  John,  or  either  of  the  other 
evangelists,  to  give  an  accurate  account  of  so  much  of  the 
life  of  Christ  and  of  the  transactions  connected  with  his 
cause,  as  he  has  embraced  in  his  narrative,  was  not  very  con- 
siderable. The  gospel  history  is  contained  in  a  small  space. 
Twenty-nine  or  thirty  pages,  of  a  common  family  Bible, 
comprise  the  whole  of  what  John  has  related.  It  is  a  plain 
straight  forward  account  of  a  very  simple  intelligible  train 
of  events.  There  are  no  labyrinths  of  historical  truth  to 
trace  out — no  perplexed  involutions  of  circumstances  to  un- 
ravel. Consequently,  when  you  consider  that  John,  by  the 
testimony  of  all  tradition,  as  well  as  that  of  the  gospel  history, 
was  a  member  of  the  household  of  Christ — admitted  into  his 
most  unreserved  and  affectionate  intercourse — the  disciple 
whom  he  specially  loved — who  accompanied  him  in  all  his 
journeyings,  followed  him  into  his  retirements,  stood  beneath 
his  cross,  and  was  a  constant  companion  of  the  other  disci- 
ples, and  a  witness  of  their  actions — you  will  readily  grant 
that  John  must  have  possessed  all  desirable  opportunities  of 
knowing,  and  must  actually  have  known  the  gospel  history 
so  perfectly  as  to  be  fully  competent  ( to  write  an  accurate 
account.  I  shall  therefore  refrain  from  any  further  remark? 


LECTURE    IV. 


10: 


upon  this  branch  of  the  argument,  and  shall  pass  to  the 
second,  in  entire  confidence  that  I  leave  no  mind  in  any 
reasonable  doubt  of  the  adequateness  of  our  historians 
knowledge. 

The  second  and  the  main  question  to  be  pursued  is  this : 
Have  we  reason  to  rely  with  implicit  confidence  upon  the 
honesty  of  this  historian?  Believing  him  to  have  known 
enough  to  relate  the  truth,  may  we  also  believe  that  he  was 
too  honest  to  relate  any  thing  but  the  truth?  This  is  a  fair 
and  plain  question.  Prove  the  negative,  and  John's  history 
must  be  given  up.  Prove  the  affirmative,  and  it  "  is  worthy  of 
all  acceptation."  We  begin  the  argument  for  the  affirmative. 

II.  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  writers  of  the 
gospel  history  were  too  honest  to  relate  any  thing  but  truth, 

We  will  apply,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  history  itself. 
There  are  certain  characteristic  marks  of  historical  honesty, 
which  can  hardly  be  counterfeited  to  any  extent,  and  always 
produce  a  favourable  impression.  Take  up  the  history 
written  by  St.  John.  I  call  your  attention  to  the  obvious 
fact  that ; 

1st.  Its  narrative  is  in  a  very  high  degree  circumstantial. 
A  false  witness  will  not  need  to  be  cautioned  against  the 
introduction  of  many  minute  circumstances  into  his  statement. 
The  more  he  connects  it  with  the  particulars  of  time,  and 
place,  and  persons,  so  as  to  locate  his  facts  and  bring  in 
living  men  as  associated  with  them,  the  more  does  he  multi- 
ply the  probability  of  detection.  He  gives  the  cross-examina- 
tion every  advantage.  It  would  be  impossible  for  a  false 
statement,  abounding  in  such  details,  and  at  the  same  time 
exciting  general  interest  in  the  neighbourhood  where,  and 
soon  after,  they  are  alleged  to  have  occurred,  to  escape 
exposure.  Consequently,  when  we  take  up  a  narrative  thus 
minutely  circumstantial,  and  which  we  are  sure  did  excite 
among  all  classes,  where  its  events  are  located,  the  very 
highest  und  most  scrutinizing  interest,  and  that,  too,  within 


108 


LECTURE    JV. 


a  short  time  after  the  period  to  which  the  events  are  referred ; 
we  always  feel  impressed  with  a  strong  persuasion  that  the 
writer  had  the  consciousness  of  truth  and  the  fearlessness  of 
honesty.  It  is  evident  that  he  had  no  disposition,  and  there- 
fore no  cause,  to  shun  the  closest  investigation.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  take  up  any  books  professing  to  be  histories 
of  events  within  the  reach  and  investigation  of  those  among 
whom  they  were  first  published,  but  yet  in  a  great  measure 
untrue,  you  will  find  a  great  deficiency  of  such  minute 
details  of  time,  place,  and  persons,  as  would  serve  to  test 
their  faithfulness.  Compare  them  with  the  histories  of  the 
Peloponnesian  and  Gallic  wars,  by  Thucydides  and  Julius 
Caesar,  and  you  will  see  directly  how  strong  a  feature  of 
true  narrative,  in  distinction  from  whatever  is  in  a  great 
degree  invented,  is  a  circumstantial  detail  of  minute  par- 
ticulars. 

Generality  is  the  cloak  of  fiction.  Minuteness  is  the 
natural  manner  of  truth,  in  proportion  to  the  importance 
and  interest  of  the  subject.  Such  is  the  precise  manner  and 
continual  evidence  of  the  honesty  of  St.  John.  His  history 
is  full  of  the  most  minute  circumstances  of  time,  place,  and 
persons.  Does  he  record,  for  example,  the  resuscitation  of 
Lazarus?  He  tells  the  name  of  the  village,  and  describes 
the  particular  spot  where  the  event  occurred.  He  gives  the 
names  of  some  of  the  principal  individuals  who  were  present; 
mentions  many  unbelieving  Jews  as  eye-witnesses ;  states 
the  precise  object  for  which  they  had  come  to  the  place ; 
what  they  did  and  said  ;  the  time  the  body  had  been  buried ; 
how  the  sepulchre  was  constructed  and  closed;  the  impres- 
sion which  the  event  made  upon  the  Jews ;  how  they  were 
divided  in  opinion  in  consequence  of  it ;  the  particular  ex- 
pressions of  one  whose  name  is  given ;  the  subsequent 
conduct  of  the  Jews  in  regard  to  Lazarus.  This,  you 
perceive,  is  being  very  citcumstantial.  It  is  only  a  specimen 
of  ihe  general  character  of  St.  John's  Gospel.  It  looks 


LECTURE    IV.  109 

very  much  as  if  the  writer  was  not  afraid  of  any  thing  the 
people  of  Bethany,  or  the  survivors  of  those  who  had  been 
present  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  or  the  children  of  any  of 
them,  might  have  to  say  with  regard  to  the  resurrection. 
Now,  when  you  consider  that  John's  history  was  widely 
circulated  while  many  were  yet  living,  who,  had  these  events 
never  been,  in  Bethany,  must  have  known  it ;  and  among  a 
people,  who,  in  addition  to  every  facility,  had  every  desire  to 
find  out  the  least  departure  from  truth,  I  think  you  will 
acknowledge  that  the  circumstantial  character  of  this  book 
is  very  strong  evidence  that  the  author  must  have  written  in 
the  confidence  of  truth. 

2d.  Another  striking  evidence,  to  the  same  point,  is  seen 
in  this,  that  the  author  exhibits  no  consciousness  of  narra- 
ting any  thing,  about  which,  as  a  matter  of  notorious  fact, 
there  was  the  smallest  doubt.  He  takes  no  pains,  evinces 
no  thought  of  attempting,  to  convince  his  reader  of  the 
truth  of  what  he  relates.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole 
narrative  is  conducted  with  the  manner  and  aspect  of  one 
who  takes  for  granted  the  entire  notoriety  of  his  statements. 
He  comes  before  the  public  as  one  familiarly  known,  needing 
no  account  of  himself  or  of  his  pretensions  to  universal 
confidence.  He  goes  straight  forward  with  his  story,  de- 
livering the  least  and  the  most  wonderful  relations  in  the 
same  simple  and  unembarrassed  manner  of  ease  and  confi- 
dence, which  nothing  but  an  assurance  of  unimpeachable 
consistency  can  explain.  Nothing  is  said  to  account  for 
what  might  seem  inexplicable ;  to  defend  what  would 
probably  be  cavilled  at ;  to  anticipate  objections  which  one 
feeling  himself  on  questionable  ground,  would  naturally 
look  for.  The  writer  seems  to  be  conscious  that,  with 
regard  to  those  for  whom  especially  he  wrote,  all  this  were 
needless.  He  is  willing  to  commit  his  simple  statement 
alone,  undefended,  unvarnished,  into  the  hands  of  friend 

or  foe. 

9* 


.110  LECTURE    IV. 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  this  connexion  than  that, 
while  he  could  not  have  been  ignorant  that  he  was  relating 
many  very  extraordinary  and  wonderful  events,  he  shows 
no  wonder  in  his  own  mind,  and  seems  to  expect  no  wonder 
among  his  readers.  This  looks  exceedingly  like  one  who 
writes,  not  of  extraordinary  events,  just  contrived  in  his 
own  imagination,  but  of  extraordinary  events  which,  what- 
ever the  wonder  they  excited  when  first  known,  are  now 
perfectly  notorious,  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  all  his 
readers.  It  is  one  thing  to  relate  a  series  of  astonishing 
occurrences  which  we  feel  are  perfectly  new  to  the  readers, 
and  a  very  different  thing  to  relate  the  same  to  those  who 
have  long  since  been  familiarly  acquainted  with  their  promi- 
nent particulars,  and  desire  only  a  more  circumstantial  and 
confidential  account.  In  the  former  case,  the  writer  would 
naturally,  and  almost  necessarily,  betray  in  his  style  and 
the  whole  texture  of  his  statement  an  expectation  of  the 
wonder  and  probable  incredulity  of  his  readers.  In  the 
latter,  he  would  deliver  his  narrative  as  if  he  were  thinking 
only  of  an  accurate  detail  of  truth,  without  particular  refe- 
rence to  whether  it  was  astonishing,  or  the  contrary.  Thus 
it  is  with  St.  John.  There  is  no  appearance  of  his  having 
felt  as  if  any  of  his  Gospel  would  be  new,  or  excite  any 
new  emotions  of  wonder  in  his  readers.  The  marvellous 
works  of  Christ  were,  at  that  time,  notorious.  When  first 
heard  of,  they  excited  universal  astonishment.  "  His  fame 
went  abroad,  and  all  the  people  were  amazed."  But  so 
much  time  had  now  elapsed,  that  emotions  of  wonder  had 
subsided,  under  the  influence  of  repetition  and  familiarity. 
In  striking  consistency  with  this  is  the  whole  aspect  of 
St.  John's  narrative.  He  goes  directly  forward  in  the  rela 
tion  of  events,  in  themselves  exceedingly  impressive  and 
astonishing,  exhibiting  no  sign  of  any  astonishment  in  his 
own  mind,  anticipating  none  in  his  contemporaneous  readers. 
How  is  this  to  be  explained  ?  One  can  discover  no  plausible 


LECTURE  IV.  11 J 

explanation  but  in  the  supposition  that  he  was  conscious 
of  recording  events,  with  which,  in  their  chief  particulars, 
the  public  mind  had  been  entirely  familiarized.  This  may 
deservedly  be  considered  a  strong  indication  of  truth. 

3d.  I  see  another  plain  evidence,  to  the  same  point,  in 
the  minute  accuracy  which  marks  all  the  allusions  of  this 
narrative  to  the  manners,  customs,  opinions,  political  events, 
and  other  circumstances  of  the  times.  The  situation  of 
Judea,  in  the  time  of  the  Saviour,  was  such  as  to  bring 
it  frequently  under  the  eye  of  the  profane  writers  of  that 
age.  From  them  we  derive  a  great  many  particulars, 
illustrating  the  several  modifications  in  the  civil  and  religious 
institutions  of  the  Jews,  by  their  subjection  to  Rome.  And 
hus  we  have  a  great  many  points  of  comparison  between 
the  gospel  history  and  the  other  histories  of  the  same  times. 
The  former  contains  innumerable  references  to  the  pecu- 
liarities then  existing  in  the  Jewish  state — its  laws,  courts, 
punishments — as  well  as  to  the  opinions,  prejudices,  and 
customs  then  prevailing.  This  was  dangerous  ground  for 
the  inventor  of  a  story.  The  continual  fluctuations  in  public 
affairs  ;  the  numerous  and  complex  changes  in  the  supreme 
officers  of  Judea  and  the  neighbouring  provinces ;  as  well 
as  in  the  boundaries  and  character  of  their  governments, 
within  the  period  embraced  in  the  gospel  history,  must  have 
added  greatly  to  the  difficulty  of  an  inventor  of  a  narrative 
located  in  such  circumstances,  and  filled  with  allusions 
to  them.  We  have  a  Jewish  historian  of  the  same  age,  with 
which  to  confront  the  gospel  history.  Josephus  has  furnished 
us  with  a  full  and  minute  account  of  those  internal  affairs 
if  the  Jews,  both  civil  and  religious,  to  which  allusions  are 
nade  in  the  gospel  history.  It  would  be  evidently  very  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  a  lecture,  to  attempt  a  proof  that  all 
the  minutest  allusions  in  our  sacred  history  are  not  only 
uneontradicted,  but  wherever  the  same  things  are  spoken  of, 
are  positively  confirmed  by  the  secular  authority  to  which 


112  LECTURE   IV. 

we  have  referred.  But  we  assert  it  as  a  fact,  well  known  to 
every  student  of  the  gospel  history,  and  of  which  any  who 
have  the  disposition  to  examine  the  question,  may  easily  be 
satisfied.  Now  it  seems  to  me  it  would  have  been  next  to 
impossible  for  the  inventor  of  a  story,  exciting  such  general 
and  intense  interest,  branching  out  into  such  circumstantial 
details,  and  connected,  at  so  many  points,  with  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  times,  to  tread  upon  ground  so  covered  with 
snares,  without  being  caught. 

4th.  Hitherto  we  have  directed  your  attention  to  the 
gospel  history  as  furnished  by  only  one  of  its  witnesses. 
But  suppose  you  should  unexpectedly  discover  in  the  ruins 
of  Herculaneum  three  distinct  writings,  heretofore  entirely 
unknown,  but  containing  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  of 
authenticity,  and  evidently  written  in  the  first  century  of 
Christianity,  by  three  several  and  independent  authors,  each 
possessed  of  the  best  opportunities  of  knowledge.  And 
suppose  that  in  every  one  of  them  there  should  be  found 
a  history  of  Christ  and  his  Gospel ;  what  an  uncommon 
opportunity  would  it  seem  of  trying  the  accuracy  of  this 
book  of  St.  John.  Even  if  these  three  newly  discovered 
authors  were  bad  men  ;  yet  if  their  statements  should  agree 
with  his,  it  would  determine  the  accuracy  of  his  history. 
But  if  it  should  appear  that  they  were  all  good  men,  how 
much  more  complete  would  be  their  confirmation.  Suppose, 
however,  it  should  turn  out  that  these  three  writers  were 
not  only  good  men,  but,  like  St.  John,  disciples  of  Christ 
and  ministers  of  his  Gospel,  what  effect  would  their  concur- 
rent testimony  then  have  upon  his  accuracy?  Would  it  be 
diminished  in  conclusiveness  by  the  discovery  of  their 
Christian  character  ?  I  believe  that,  in  the  minds  of  multi- 
tudes, it  would ;  but  most  unjustly.  Precisely  the  contrary 
should  be  the  consequence.  If  four  of  the  chief  officers  in 
Napoleon's  staff  had  published  memoirs  of  his  life,  I  venture 
to  say  that  the  concurrence  of  their  several  statements 


LECTURE  IV.  113 

instead  of  having  its  evidence  weakened,  because  they  were 
all  attached  to  Napoleon  and  admitted  to  his  domestic  circle, 
would  be  greatly  strengthened,  in  your  estimation,  by  that 
very  circumstance,  inasmuch  as  it  would  ensure  the  accuracy 
of  their  knowledge,  without  impeaching  their  integrity. 
But  some  seem  to  suppose  that  the  laws  regulating  the  force 
of  testimony  are  all  changed  as  soon  as  the  matter  of  fact, 
in  question,  is  removed  from  the  department  of  profane  to 
that  of  sacred  history. 

How  much  has  been  made  of  the  testimony  of  the  Roman 
historian,  Tacitus,  to  some  of  the  chief  facts  of  the  gospel 
history.  It  is  the  testimony  of  a  Heathen,  and,  therefore, 
supposed  to  be  incomparably  valuable.  Now  suppose  that 
Tacitus  the  Heathen  had  not  only  been  persuaded  of  the 
facts  he  has  related,  but  had  been  so  deeply  impressed  with 
the  belief  of  them  as  to  have  renounced  heathenism  and 
embraced  the  Christian  faith,  and  then  published  the  history 
we  now  possess — who  does  not  know  that,  with  the  infidel, 
and  with  many  a  believer,  his  testimony  would  have  greatly 
suffered  in  practical  force  ?  No  reason  for  this  can  be  given, 
except  that  we  have  a  vague  idea  that  a  Christian  in  the 
cause  of  Christianity  must  be  an  interested  witness.  To  be 
sure  he  is  interested.  But  is  his  testimony  the  less  valuable  ? 

A  scientific  man,  bearing  testimony  to  a  phenomenon  in 
natural  history,  is  an  interested  witness,  because  he  is  de- 
voted to  science,  but  his  testimony  is  not  the  less  valuable. 
A  good  man,  bearing  testimony  to  the  character  of  another 
good  man,  is  an  interested  witness,  because  he  is  the  friend 
of  virtue  and  of  all  good  men,  but  his  testimony  is  not  the 
less  valuable.  In  this,  and  no  other  sense,  were  the  original 
disciples  interested  witnesses.  They  were  interested  in 
Christianity,  only  so  far  as  they  believed  it  true.  Suppose 
them  to  have  known  it  to  be  untrue,  and  you  cannot  imagine 
the  least  jot  or  tittle  of  interest  they  could  have  had  in  it 
In  such  a  case,  on  the  contrary,  the  current  of  all  their 


1 14  LECTURE  TV. 

interests  and  prepossessions  would  run  directly  and  power- 
fully in  opposition  to  Christianity.  This  then,  being  all  the 
way  in  which  they  can  be  regarded  as  interested,  the  force 
of  their  testimony,  so  far  from  being  in  the  least  impaired, 
is  greatly  enhanced  by  the  consideration.  The  bare  fact 
that  any  primitive  writer,  bearing  witness  to  events  related 
by  St.  John,  was  not  a  Heathen,  or  a  Jew,  but  a  Christian, 
is  the  very  thing  that  should  be  regarded  as  completing  his 
testimony.  Is  the  evidence  of  Tacitus,  who  relates  such 
events,  but  remained  a  Heathen,  any  thing  like  so  strong ; 
as  if  we  could  say,  it  is  the  evidence  of  Tacitus,  who  was  a 
Heathen,  but  believed  those  events  so  firmly  that  he  became 
a  Christian  ?  If  a  man  speak  well  to  me  of  the  virtues  of 
a  certain  medicine,  but  does  not  use  it  himself,  is  his  opinion 
half  ^o  weighty  as  if  he  were  to  receive  it  into  his  own 
vitals,  and  administer  it  in  his-  family?  Would  it  be 
reasonable,  in  this  case,  to  refuse  his  testimony,  because  you 
might  denominate  him  an  interested  witness  1 

I  have  thus  enlarged  upon  this  head,  because  I  am  going 
to  present  you  with  the  concurrent  testimony  of  seven 
ancient  writers,  in  confirmation  of  the  accuracy  of  the  gos- 
pel history,  as  given  by  St.  John.  They  are  writers  whose 
testimony  has  this  particular  value,  that,  whereas  once  they 
were  Jews  and  enemies  to  the  gospel,  they  were  afterwards 
converted  to  its  belief  and  service ;  became  Christians,  and 
as  Christians  wrote,  and  gave  every  practical  evidence  that 
what  they  wrote  they  believed.  Of  these,  three  composed 
regular  histories  of  the  life  and  labours  of  Christ,  similar  in 
object  to  that  of  John.  One  of  them,  beside  a  memoir  of 
Christ,  has  carried  on  the  subsequent  history  of  Christianity, 
under  the  name  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Four  others 
composed  various  letters  to  different  individuals,  or  bodies  of 
Christians,  in  which  they  allude  continually  to  events  related 
in  the  narratives  of  the  former.  Now  all  these  several 
writings  are  perfectly  independent,  each  of  the  rest.  We 


LECTURE  IV.  115 

have  them  bound  up  in  one  volume,  and  are  apt  to  overlook 
the  fact  that  they  are  as  independent  productions  as  if  they 
had  never  been  in  contact  with  one  another.  Written  by 
various  authors  in  widely  remote  countries,  in  ah1  parts  of 
the  first  century  from  its  forty-first  to  its  ninety-seventh  year, 
in  as  many  different  styles  and  methods  as  they  had  writers ; 
these  productions  cannot,  with  the  least  reason,  be  suspected 
of  having  been  composed  in  concert.  Of  the  competency  of 
the  knowledge  of  each  writer,  we  can  have  no  more  doubt 
than  in  the  case  of  St.  John.  In  each  of  their  histories  we 
see  the  same  circtimstantiallty,  the  same  striking  internal 
characteristics  of  honesty  as  we  have  already  noticed  in  that 
of  the  other  evangelist.  Now,  let  us  divest  ourselves  of  the 
delusion  so  apt  to  arise  out  of  the  thought  that  they  are  Chris- 
tian witnesses  ;  and  as  if  this  were  a  question  as  to  the  truth 
of  a  history  of  Pythagoras,  by  one  of  his  disciples,  and  these 
other  writers  were  also  contemporaneous  disciples  of  Pytha- 
goras, let  us  bring  them  face  to  face,  and  see  how  they  agree. 
Here,  then,  we  have  four  independent  histories  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  all  of  them  by  his  contemporaries,  besides  the  other 
documents  we  have  mentioned.  Now,  "  it  is  an  extraordi- 
nary and  singular  fact  that  no  history  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  world  has  been  written  by  so  great  a  number  of 
the  companions  and  friends  of  an  illustrious  person,  as  that 
of  our  Saviour.  One  contemporary  history  is  a  rarity — 
two  is  a  coincidence  scarcely  known — four  is,  so  far  as 
appears,  unparalleled."*  We  have  therefore,  an  unequalled 
opportunity  of  coming  at  the  truth.  We  compare  our  seve- 
ral histories.  If  we  find  them  contradictory,  our  confidence 
declines.  If  they  bear  a  systematic,  particular,  and  yet  com- 
prehensive resemblance,  we  must  suspect  collusion.  But  we 
perceive  neither  the  contradiction  nor  the  resemblance.  We 
see  great  variety.  What  one  relates,  another  sometimes 

*  "Wilson's  Lectures. 


116  LECTtRE    IV. 

leaves  out.  They  differ  in  arrangement,  in  minuteness,  and 
sometimes  as  to  fact,  in  such  manner  that  the  reader  might 
be  alarmed  at  first  view,  lest  there  should  be  found  a  contra- 
diction ;  while  such  is  the  actual  agreement,  that  all  difficul- 
ties vanish  before  a  strict  investigation ;  and,  down  to  the 
utmost  minuteness  of  statement,  their  mutual  support  is 
undiminished  by  a  single  opposing  representation.  The 
attempts  of  infidels  to  make  out  the  appearance  of  a  con- 
tradiction, show  to  what  shifts  they  have  been  driven,  and 
how  accurate  is  the  concurrence.  Now  this  unfailing  agree- 
ment of  four  several,  independent,  and  contemporaneous 
historians — each  so  circumstantial — each  so  full  of  allusions 
to  the  events,  and  institutions,  and  customs  of  the  times — 
and  none  contradicted  by  any  evidence  whatever — is  as 
convincing  an  evidence  of  the  honest  accuracy  of  all,  as 
any  mind  should  require.  Were  the  gospel  history  untrue, 
such  evidence  would  have  been  morally  impossible.  It  is 
peculiar  to  that  history.  No  other  can  plead  it,  to  any  simi- 
lar extent.  And  here  we  feel  that  we  might  safely  leave  the 
question  of  credibility.  But  there  are  two  or  three  points 
remaining,  which  must  not  be  left  unnoticed. 

Should  I  occupy  enough  of  your  time  to  take  any  thing 
like  a  full  view  of  the  whole  of  this  argument,  I  should  here 
introduce  the  uncontradicted  acknowledgment  of  Jewish  and 
Heathen  enemies  of  the  gospel,  to  the  purity  and  integrity 
of  the  primitive  disciples  of  Christ ;  the  strong  evidence  of 
their  having  possessed  these  virtues,  exhibited  in  the  pecu- 
liarly modest  and  humble  manner  in  which  the  evangelists 
speak  of  themselves,  never  concealing  or  excusing  what 
might  make  exceedingly  against  thenij  but  always  mention- 
ing what  might  seem  humiliating  or  honourable  to  them- 
selves  in  the  same  plain,  simple  way  as  they  relate  any 
other  matter  of  fact.  We  should  also  introduce  the  variety 
of  incidental  confirmations  obtained  from  profane  writers, 
and  from  coins,  of  various  particulars  contained  in  the  gos- 


LECTURE  IV.  117 

pel  history.  We  should  cite  especially  the  testimony  of 
Tacitus  to  the  time  and  the  fact  of  the  Saviour's  crucifixion  ; 
as  well  as  the  records  called  the  Acts  of  Pilate,  bearing  wit- 
ness to  the  same  event,  and  appealed  to  by  early  Christian 
writers  as  notoriously  laid  up  among  the  papers  of  the 
Roman  Senate.  But  since  we  have  not  room  for  every 
thing,  we  must  dispense  with  these  particulars.* 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  we  are  still  employed  upon  the 
honesty  of  the  writers  of  the  gospel  history.  Suppose,  then, 
for  a  moment,  that  they  were  not  honest  in  their  statements — 
that  they  knew  they  were  endeavouring  to  pass  off  a  down- 
right imposition  upon  the  world.  We  will  not  speak  of 
their  intellect  in  such  a  case,  but  of  their  motive.  Now,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  suppose  that  any  man  could  devote 
himself  to  the  diligent  promotion  of  such  an  imposture 
without  some  very  particular  motive.  Much  more  that, 
without  such  motive,  the  eight  various  writers  concerned  in 
the  New  Testament  should  have  united  in  the  plan.  What 
motive  could  they  have  had  ?  If  impostors,  they  were  bad 
men  ;  their  motive,  therefore,  must  have  been  bad.  It  must 
have  been  to  advance  themselves,  either  in  wealth,  honour, 
or  power.  Take  either,  or  all  of  these  objects,  and  here, 
then,  is  the  case  you  have.  Four  historians,  with  four  other 
writers  of  the  New  Testament— all,  but  one  of  them,  poor 
unlearned  men — undertake  to  persuade  the  world  that  certain 
great  events  took  place  before  the  eyes  of  thousands  in  Judea 
and  Galilee,  which  none  in  those  regions  ever  saw  or  heard 
of,  and  they  know,  perfectly  well,  did  never  occur.  They  see 
beforehand  that  the  attempt  to  make  Jews  and  Heathens  be- 
lieve these  things  will  occasion  to  themselves  all  manner  of  dis- 
grace and  persecution.  Nevertheless,  so  fond  are  they  of  thei  r 
contrivance,  that  though  it  is  bitterly  opposed  by  all  the  habits 
prejudices,  dispositions,  and  philosophy — all  the  powers  and 


*  See  Home's  Introd.  vol.  i. 
10 


118  LECTURE    IV. 

institutions  of  all  people — they  submit  cheerfully  to  misery 
and  contempt — they  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods — 
they  willingly  endure  to  be  counted  as  fools  and  the  offscour- 
mg  of  all  things — yea,  they  march  thankfully  to  death  out 
of  a  mere  desire  to  propagate  a  story  which  they  all  know 
is  a  downright  fabrication.  At  every  step  of  their  progress 
they  see  and  feel,  that  instead  of  any  worldly  advantage, 
they  are  daily  loading  themselves  with  ruin.  At  any  moment 
they  can  turn  about  and  renounce  their  effort,  and  retrieve 
their  losses ;  and  yet,  with  perfect  unanimity,  these  eight, 
with  thousands  of  others  equally  aware  of  the  deception, 
persist  most  resolutely  in  their  career  of  ignominy  and 
suffering.  Not  the  slightest  confession,  even  under  torture 
and  the  strong  allurements  of  reward,  escapes  the  lips  of 
any.  Not  the  least  hesitation  is  shown  when  to  each  is 
offered  the  choice  of  recantation  or  death.  He  that  can 
believe  such  a  case  of  fraud  and  folly  as  this,  can  believe 
any  thing.  He  believes  a  miracle  infinitely  more  difficult 
of  credit  than  any  in  the  gospel  history.  I  charge  him 
with  the  most  superstitious  and  besotted  credulity.  In 
getting  to  such  a  belief,  he  has  to  trample  over  all  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  reasoning.  Then  on  what  an  un- 
assailable rock  does  the  honesty  of  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  stand,  if  it  can  be  attacked  only  at  such  sacrifices. 
How  evident  it  is,  not  only  that  they  could  have  had  no 
motive  to  deceive,  but  that  in  all  their  self-devotion  and 
sacrifices  they  gave  the  strongest  possible  evidence  of  having 
published  what  they  solemnly  believed  was  true.  * 

Now,  if  I  have  produced  satisfactory  proof  from  all  the 
unquestionable  marks  of  honesty  in  the  gospel   history; 

*  "  We  cannot  make  use  (says  Hume)  of  a  more  convincing  argument" 
(in  proof  of  honesty)  "  than  to  prove  that  the  actions  ascribed  to  any  persons 
are  contrary  to  the  course  of  nature,  and  that  no  human  motives,  in  such 
circumstances  could  ever  induce  them  to  such  a  conduct."  Philosophical 
Essays. 


LECTURE   IV.  119 

from  the  concurrence  of  profane  historians  with  many  of 
its  facts  ;  from  their  being  contradicted  by  none  ;  from  the 
unprecedented  harmony  of  eight  independent  writers  in 
their  minutest  events  and  allusions ;  from  the  impossibility 
of  supposing  any  motive  to  deception,  and  from  the  sacrifices 
the  apostles  endured  in  the  promotion  of  Christianity ;  if 
from  these  sources  I  have  satisfactorily  shown  that  the 
writers  of  the  gospel  history  could  not  have  intended  to 
record  any  thing  but  truth — then,  having  previously  ascer- 
tained that  they  must  have  known  whether  what  they  wrote 
was  true  or  false,  we  have  those  two  requisites  which  ensure 
the  credibility  of  any  history — knowledge  and  honesty.  This 
shuts  up  the  question.  But  it  is  not  the  whole  strength  of 
the  argument.  A  question  may  be  shut  up  and  locked; 
but  then  it  may  have  bolts  and  bars  besides.  The  truth  of 
the  gospel  history  is  not  only  sealed,  but  sealed  seven-fold. 

It  has  all  the  testimony  that  could  possibly  have  been 
expected,  in  the  nature  of  things,  from  the  enemies  of 
Christianity.  It  would  have  been  unreasonable  to  expect 
that  a  Heathen  or  Jew  would  come  forward  with  a  detailed 
statement  to  acknowledge  the  events  narrated  by  the 
evangelists.  We  ha^ve  not  this ;  but  we  have  much  better. 
We  have  the  confession  of  the  whole  nation  of  Jews  and  of 
all  the  Greeks  to  the  same  point.  None  ever  ventured  in 
any  publication  to  deny  the  statements  of  the  evangelists. 
Unquestionably  they  would  have  done  it,  every  where,  had 
they  been  able.  When  Luke  published  in  Jerusalem,  that 
a  man  lame  from  the  birth  was  healed  by  Peter  and  John, 
while  sitting,  begging,  at  the  gate  of  the  temple,  and  that  a 
great  multitude  came  together  on  account  of  the  wondei  ful 
deed ;  had  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  been  able  to  deny  it, 
would  their  persecuting  enmity  have  permitted  them  to  be 
silent  ?  Be  it  remembered  that  the  gospel  history  was  pub- 
lished  in  the  places  where  its  events  are  said  to  have 
occurred — in  the  lifetime  of  many  enemies  who  are  said  to 


120  LECTURE  IV. 

have  seen  them.  Now  it  is  certain  that  no  adversaries 
either  in  Judea,  or  Greece,  or  Rome,  rested  their  opposition 
to  the  gospel,  in  any  degree,  on  the  denial  of  these  events. 
What  is  the  consequence?  They  could  not  deny  them. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  silence?  Being  interpreted, 
it  is  nothing  less  than  a  universal  testimony  from  all  Jews 
and  Heathens,  who  were  capable  of  knowing  any  thing  of 
the  matter,  that  these  things  were  so.  But  they  did  not  stop 
here.  Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  positively  asserts  some 
of  the  chief  events  of  the  gospel.  *  Celsus,  a  bitter  anta- 
gonist of  Christianity,  in  the  second  century  ;t  Porphyry,  a 
learned  as  well  as  earnest  opposer,  in  the  third ;  1  and 
Julian,  the  apostate  emperor,  in  the  next  century ;  §  all 
acknowledge  not  only  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament 
books,  but,  so  far  as  they  refer  to  them,  the  historical  correct- 
ness of  their  narratives,  even  as  to  the  most  extraordinary 
particulars,  not  excluding  the  miracles  of  Christ.  But  we 
have  stronger  witness  still. 

About  thirty-two  years  after  the  crucifixion,  took  place  the 
first  Roman  persecution,  under  Nero.  The  number  of 
Christians  discovered  in  the  one  city  of  Rome,  and  con- 
demned, is  called  by  Tacitus  "a  vast  multitude."^  Of 
course  they  must  have  been  exceedingly  numerous  in  all 
other  places  taken  together.  These  but  a  few  years  before 
were  all  either  Jews  or  Heathens.  Many  resided  in  Jerusa- 
lem, Capernaum,  Antioch,  Philippi,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  &c. 
By  the  time  of  this  persecution,  all  the  Gospels,  but  one,  as 
well  as  the  Acts  of  the  apostles,  had  been  published.  The 
events  recorded  in  these  books  are  said  to  have  taken  place 
before  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  the  cities  just  mentioned. 
It  was  an  easy  thing  for  those  people  to  ascertain  whether 
tney,  or  their  neighbours,  or  parents,  had  seen  them.  What 


•Lardner,  iii.  611.    t  Ib.  iv.  121—130;  133,  4.    *  Ib.  234—8.    §  Ib.  341  2. 
N  Tac.  Annal.,  lib.  xv.  c.  44.    Lardner,  iii.  610 — 14. 


LECTURE    IV.  121 

did  they  do  ?  They  came  forward  in  great  multitudes  ; 
they  threw  off  Judaism  ;  threw  off  paganism  ;  espoused  the 
gospel,  and  suffered  unto  death,  sooner  than  renounce  it.  This 
was  but  thirty-three  years  after  the  events  recorded  of  Christ; 
it  was  in  the  life-time  of  Paul.  I  say,  therefore,  that  every 
Christian  of  those  days  was  a  witness — the  strongest 
witness — far  more  impressive  in  his  attestation  than  any 
enemy  could  have  been,  to  the  shining,  powerful  truth  of 
the  gospel  history.  "We  are  compassed  about,"  therefore, 
''  with  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses  ;"  witnesses  who  did  not 
just  acknowledge  these  things,  and  still  remain  what  they 
were  before  ;  but  witnesses  adding  to  their  acknowledgment 
the  testimony  of  their  conversion  ;  the  evidence  of  their 
lives,  which  were  wholly  devoted  to  these  things ;  the  seals 
of  ten  thousand  martyrdoms,  endured  solely  on  account  of 
their  perfect  assurance  of  these  things. 

Now  consider  a  moment,  and  see  the  utter  impossibility 
that  the  gospel  history  should  have  gained  such  currency 
for  a  single  year,  had  it  not  been  notoriously  true.  In  about 
eight  years  after  the  crucifixion,  Matthew  publishes  his 
Gospel  among  the  Jews.  He  tells  the  people  of  Jerusalem 
that,  only  eight  years  from  that  time,  while  a  great  multitude 
of  them  were  witnessing  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
there  was  darkness  over  the  whole  land,  from  twelve  to  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  "  the  veil  of  the  temple  was 
rent  in  twain,  and  the  earth  did  quake,  and  the  rocks  rent.-' 
Suppose  all  this  to  have  been  a  fabrication  ;  would  Jerusa- 
lem have  held  her  peace  ?  could  a  book  of  such  barefaced 
untruth  have  lived  an  hour  1 

The  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  published  about 
thirty  years  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  was  immedi- 
ately circulated  among  the  churches,  and  open  to  the  perusal 
of  the  enemies  of  Christianity.  It  is  related  in  the  second 
chapter  of  that  work,  that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  soon 

after  the  death  of  Christ  when  a  great  multitude,  collected 

10* 


122  LECTURE  IV. 

from  all  parts  of  the  earth,  were  assembled  at  Jerusalem,  a 
deep  impression  of  astonishment  was  produced  on  the  public 
mind  by  a  rumour  of  certain  miraculous  events  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  apostles,  so  that  "  the  multitude  came  together 
and  were  confounded,  because  that  every  man  heard  them 
speak  in  his  own  language."  Parthians,  and  Medes,  and 
Elamites,  and  Cretes,  and  Arabians ;  dwellers  in  all  coun 
tries ;  men  of  every  speech,  were  amazed  at  hearing  those 
Galileans,  who  were  well  known  to  have  learned  no  other 
tongue  than  that  of  Palestine,  speaking  in  all  varieties  of 
foreign  languages,  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  Such  is  the 
relation  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  How  could  a  writer,  in 
his  senses,  attempt  to  pass  it  upon  his  readers  had  it  not  been 
notorious  that  such  things  had  actually  occurred?  The 
lapse  of  thirty  years  could  not  have  so  obliterated  every 
recollection  of  that  feast ;  or  so  swept  the  world  of  surviving 
witnesses,  as  to  prevent  the  certainty,  that  wherever  this  book 
should  circulate  it  would  meet  with  persons  capable  of 
remembering  or  of  ascertaining  whether  these  things  were  so. 
Had  not  the  fact  of  the  apostles  having  spoken  in  the  pre- 
sence of  thousands,  in  various  tongues,  been  undeniable,  wit- 
nesses innumerable  would  have  arisen  against  the  book  that 
related  it.  Had  no  such  event  occurred,  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  could  have  gone  into  no  part  of  the  world  without 
finding  those  who  would  stand  up  and  declare  that  they  were 
at  the  feast  referred  to,  and  saw  nothing  and  heard  nothing 
of  the  marvellous  things  declared  by  its  author.  I  say, 
therefore,  the  fact  that  the  gospel  history  was  received,  loved, 
and  read,  every  where  among  Christians ;  that  it  has  out- 
Jj>ed  all  the  withering  of  time,  and  all  the  weapons  of 
enemies ;  that  Jews  could  not  gainsay  it,  nor  Heathens  resist 
it ;  that  eighteen  centuries  of  scrutiny  and  trial  have  only 
added  new  assurance  to  its  truth,  is  one  which  reduces  the 
supposition  of  imposture  to  a  perfect  and  ridiculous  absurd- 
ity. Therefore  was  it  not  in  the  power  of  such  modern 


LECTURE    IV. 


123 


infidels  as  Hobbes,  and  Chub,  and  Bolingbroke,  to  deny  the 
point  in  question.  The  latter,  as  an  example  of  the  others, 
speaking  of  John  and  Matthew,  acknowledges  that  "  they 
recorded  the  doctrines  of  Christ  in  the  very  words  in  which 
he  taught  them;  and  they  were  careful  to  mention  the  sev- 
eral occasions  on  which  he  delivered  them  to  his  disciples  or 
others.  If,  therefore,  Plato  and  Xenophon  tell  us,  with 
a  good  deal  of  certainty,  what  Socrates  taught,  these  two 
evangelists  seem  to  tell  us,  with  much  more,  what  the  Sav- 
iour taught,  and  commanded  them  to  teach." 

Here  I  think  we  may  safely  leave  the  question  of  credi- 
bility. So  conclusive  and  certain  have  seemed  to  my  mind 
the  several  consecutive  arguments  to  which  you  have  listened, 
that  instead  of  feeling  at  each  step  as  if  any  candid  hearer 
would  wait  for  additional  proof,  I  have  felt  not  unfrequently 
as  if  I  were  tiring  your  attention  with  an  unnecessary  accu- 
mulation. Why  this  heaping  of  argument  upon  argument, 
one  may  say,  when  from  the  very  outset  of  the  question, 
from  the  certain  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  united  with 
their  internal  evidence,  we  have  a  proof  of  credibility  with 
which  any  rational  mind  should  be  perfectly  satisfied?  We 
acknowledge  the  reasonableness  of  the  inquiry.  If  the 
history  under  consideration  related  to  the  life  of  Alexander 
the  Great  and  his  generals,  instead  of  that  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  who  would  think  it  necessary 
to  go  into  all  this  detail  of  evidence  to  establish  its  truth  1 
That  it  contained  no  internal  marks  of  dishonesty ;  that  it 
was  uncontradicted  by  contemporaneous  writers  and  by 
other  histories  of  the  same  times ;  that  it  had  been  received, 
ever  since,  as  a  true  account ;  would  be  considered  an  ample 
warrant  of  its  historical  correctness.  Few,  if  any,  profane 
histories,  can  produce  more  positive  proof  of  credibility  than 
this.  Try  them  by  the  scale  on  which  the  gospel  history  is 
measured ;  require  them  to  present  one  half  of  the  weight 
of  evidence  which  infidels  demand,  and  Christians  bring  in 


124  LECTURE    IV. 

support  of  the  sacred  narrative ;  and  you  must  exclude  them 
from  all  claim  to  the  confidence  of  their  readers.  We  migh* 
speak  of  the  unfairness  of  requiring  so  much  more  in  proof 
of  a  history  because  its  character  is  sacred,  and  its  facts  are 
connected  with  religion.  I  see  not  that  the  inferences  arising 
from  an  event,  are  entitled  to  any  influence  in  changing  the 
amount  of  evidence  necessary  to  its  proof.  Whether  an 
evangelist  be  worthy  of  dependence,  when  he  relates  the 
works  of  Jesus,  is  a  question  of  testimony  to  be  determined 
by  the  same  degree  of  proof  as  should  satisfy  us  as  to  the 
accuracy  and  honesty  of  any  other  writer,  on  any  other  sub- 
ject of  history.  But  we  have  no  disposition  to  complain 
that  so  much  has  been  demanded  in  evidence  of  the  gospel 
narrative.  It  has  only  served  to  quicken  the  investigations 
of  the  friends  of  truth,  and  to  exhibit,  with  a  more  impres- 
sive assurance,  those  great  events,  on  which  all  that  is 
precious  in  a  Christian's  faith  is  founded.  It  has  showed, 
not  only  how  amply,  but  how  wonderfully  the  God  of  truth 
and  grace  has  made  the  anchor  of  our  hope  to  be  sure  and 
steadfast.  It  teaches  how,  in  the  hands  of  Divine  Wisdom, 
the  wrath  of  man  is  made  subsidiary  to  the  praise  of  God ; 
how  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked  are  not  only  broken  against 
the  shield  of  faith,  but  made  the  means  of  increasing  the 
light  by  which  the  Christian  is  guided,  and  often  of  carrying 
back  confusion  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  It  should  lead 
the  believer  to  adore,  with  admiring  gratitude,  the  goodness 
of  Him,  who,  for  the  sake  of  those  that  love  Him,  causes  all 
the  schemes  and  assaults  of  unbelievers  to  work  together 
for  good  ;  making  it  more  and  more  manifest,  by  the  defeat 
of  eveiy  new  attack,  that  this  is  "the  true  light" — "the 
shining  light,  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day." 

Had  we  time,  or  were  it  needful,  to  enter  upon  a  particular 
view  of  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment volume,  this  would  be  the  place  for  the  argument 


LECTURE    IV.  125 

But  we  have  room  only  to  advert  to  it.  The  connexion 
between  the  truth  of  the  Christian  scriptures  and  that  of  the 
Jewish  is  so  obvious  and  essential;  the  dispensation  of 
Christ  so  continually  assumes  the  divine  authority  of  that 
of  Moses,  and  is  so  evidently  built  on  its  foundations ;  the 
writings  of  the  apostles  so  frequently  quote  and  refer  to  the 
law  and  the  prophets,  as  authentic,  credible,  and  inspired 
scriptures  ;  the  argument  for  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  so  parallel,  in  its  mode  and  means,  to  that  for  the 
books  of  the  New ;  and  the  cavils  of  sceptics,  in  relation  to 
the  former,  are  so  similar  in  objection,  principle,  and  reason, 
ing,  to  those  with  which  they  assail  the  latter ;  that  in  hav- 
ing established  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  one,  we 
may  be  fairly  said  to  have  done  the  same,  in  outline,  for  the 
character  of  the  other.  Certain  we  are,  that  one  who  is 
intelligently  convinced  of  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of 
the  New  Testament,  will  not  halt  between  two  opinions  as 
to  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  but  will  read 
them  as  assuredly  the  writings  of  those  whose  names  they 
bear ;  and  deserving,  in  relation  to  all  matters  of  fact,  the 
character  of  credible  scriptures. 


126  LECTURE    V. 


LECTURE     V. 

MIRACLES. 

OUR  last  lecture  was  on  the  CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  GOSPEL 
HISTORY.  In  a  previous  one,  we  ascertained  the  AUTHEN- 
TICITY of  the  books  in  which  it  is  contained.  If  the 
evidence  adduced  in  proof  of  both  these  fundamental  articles 
appeared  as  satisfactory  to  the  hearers,  as  to  the  speaker,  we 
are  then  prepared  to  open  the  New  Testament  with  the 
assurance  that  the  books  it  contains  were  written  by  those 
original  disciples  whose  names  they  bear ;  and  that  we  may 
confidently  depend  on  the  historical  correctness  of  their 
statements.  The  seals,  therefore,  of  the  volume  are  now 
unloosed.  Immediately  on  inspecting  the  contents,  it  appears 
that  the  grand  and  continual  reference  is  to  Jesus  Christ,  as 
a  Teacher  and  Saviour  sent  from  God,  to  communicate 
personally,  and  by  his  apostles,  a  revelation  of  truth  and 
duty  to  man.  This  revelation,  the  New  Testament  professes 
to  contain.  Now,  the  grand  question  is,  what  are  the  evi- 
dences that  the  religion  contained  in  thf  New  Testament  is 
a  divine  revelation? 

When  an  ambassador  from  a  foreign  power  presents  him- 
self at  our  seat  of  government,  charged  with  certain  commu- 
nications from  his  sovereign,  he  first  exhibits  his  credentials 
of  appointment.  These  being  satisfactory,  whatever  he  may 
communicate,  in  his  official  character,  is  received  with  as 
much  reliance  as  if  it  were  heard  from  the  lips  of  his  sove- 
reign himself.  It  is  treated  as  a  revelation  of  the  mind  or 
will  of  that  sovereign.  In  the  New  Testament  we  read  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appeared  among  men  as  an  ambassa 


LECTURE  V.  127 

dor  from  God,  charged  with  certain  important  proposals  to 
the  world.  Before  we  can  be  justified  in  receiving  them  as  a 
divine  revelation,  we  must  know  the  credentials  of  the  ambas- 
sador ;  we  must  have  sufficient  evidence  that  he  was  sent  of 
God.  Furnish  this,  and  we  are  bound  to  receive  his  commu- 
nications, as  confidently  as  if  they  should  be  heard  directly 
from  the  throne  of  the  Most  High.  Thus  the  Jews  said  to 
him  :  "  What  sign  showest  thou,  that  we  may  see  and  believe 
thee  ?  What  dost  thou  work  ?"*  The  Saviour,  admitting 
the  propriety  of  the  demand,  appealed  to  his  works,  as  his 
credentials.  "  The  works  that  I  do,  they  bear  witness  of  me.' 
On  another  occasion,  he  called  up  his  miracles.  "  The  blind 
(said  he)  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are 
cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  and  the  dead  are  raised  up."t  As  if 
he  had  said  :  "  Such  works  can  only  be  done  by  the  direct 
and  supernatural  interposition  of  the  power  of  God.  They 
are  done  at  my  word  and  will.  They  are  therefore  a  perfect 
attestation  that  God  is  with  me,  and  that  my  claim  to  your 
confidence  as  His  ambassador  is  true."  Nicodemus  under- 
stood this,  and  expressed  no  other  than  the  plain  dictate  of 
common  sense,  when  he  said  to  Jesus  :  "  We  know  that  thou 
art  a  teacher  come  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do  these  mira- 
cles which  thou  doest  except  God  be  with  him."*  The 
credentials  of  the  apostles,  as  subordinate  agents  of  divine 
revelation,  are  expressed  in  like  manner.  "  God  also  bear 
ing  them  witness,  both  with  signs  and  wonders,  and  with 
divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost."§  None  can 
question  the  absolute  certainty  of  such  credentials.  This 
has  been  acknowledged  even  by  the  most  famous  advocates 
of  infidelity.  Woolston  says :  "  I  believe  it  will  be  granted 
on  all  hands  that  the  restoring  a  person  indisputably  dead  to 
life  is  a  stupendous  miracle,  and  that  two  or  three  such  mira- 
cles, well  attested  and  credibly  reported,  are  enough  to 

*  John,  vi.  30— ii.  18.         t  Mat.  xi.  5.         t  John,  Hi.  2.         S  Heb.  ii.  4 


123  LECTURE  V. 

conciliate  the  belief  that  the  author  of  them  was  a  divine 
agent,  and  invested  with  the  power  of  God."*  Make  good, 
therefore,  the  evidence  that  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
wrought  miracles  in  attestation  of  their  divine  mission,  and 
the  Christian  religion,  as  contained  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  taught  by  them,  must  be  a  divine  revelation. 

Our  way,  therefore,  is  plain.  We  must  inquire  into  the 
evidence  on  which  it  can  be  established,  that  the  Saviour 
and  his  apostles  did  work  miracles.  To  this  inquiry  we 
should  proceed  immediately,  were  it  not  for  the  peculiar 
circumstances  which  meet  us  in  the  way.  The  adversaries 
of  the  gospel  have  had  wit  enough  to  see  that  either  the 
evidence  of  miracles  must  be  overthrown,  or  they  must 
surrender  the  contest.  Unable  to  meet  the  direct  and 
abounding  testimony  by  which  the  wonderful  works  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  are  proved,  they  have  taken  position 
and  entrenched  themselves  upon  the  advanced  and  desperate 
ground  of  the  insufficiency  of  any  testimony  to  prove  a 
miracle.  Thus  have  we  a  redoubt  in  our  way,  command- 
ing the  whole  field  of  controversy,  which,  though  easily 
carried  when  properly  assailed,  would  be  of  great  damage, 
if  left  in  our  rear.  The  present  lecture  will  be  occu- 
pied, therefore,  with  the  discussion  of  certain  preliminary 
subjects,  anticipating  a  direct  application  to  the  evidence 
of  miracles,  in  our  next.  We  commence  with  the  following 
proposition. 

I.  There  is  nothing  unreasonable  or  improbable  in  the 
idea  of  a  miracle  being  wrought  in  proof  of  a  divine  reve- 
lation. I  know  not  but  that  all  persons,  of  ordinary  infor- 
mation, have  a  sufficiently  correct  idea  of  what  is  meant  by 
a  miracle,  without  the  aid  of  a  definition.  No  one  would 
mistake  the  restoration  of  sight  to  the  blind,  by  the  use  of 
human  skill,  however  wonderful  it  might  be  considered,  for 

*  Scheme  of  Literal  Prophecy,  pp.  321,  322. 


LECTURE  V. 

a  miracle.  No  one  could  mistake  the  sudden  communication 
of  sight  to  one  born  blind  at  the  mere  word  of  another, 

O  * 

without  any  intervening  cause,  for  any  thing  else  than  a 
miracle.  The  former  result,  though  astonishing,  would  be 
according  to  the  common  course  of  nature,  or  to  what  are 
called  the  laws  of  nature.  The  latter  would  be  beyond,  or 
different  from  those  laws.  One  would  be  a  natural,  the 
other  a  supernatural  event,  or  a  miracle* 

Now  the  idea  of  a  revelation  from  God,  and  the  idea  of  a 
miracle  to  attest  the  divine  commission  of  those  who  make 
it,  are  essentially  connected.  If  one  or  more  individuals  be 
sent  to  communicate  the  revelation,  they  must  prove  their 
mission  by  some  credentials.  What  can  their  credentials  be 
but  miracles?  The  necessity  of  these  will  be  evident  from 
a  little  consideration.  They  can  appeal  to  but  three  sorts  of 
proof;  the  internal  excellence  and  fitness  of  their  communi- 
cations ;  their  own  integrity  and  judgment ;  and  the  miracu- 
lous works  attendant  on  their  ministry.  With  regard  to  the 
two  former,  it  is  manifest  that,  in  the  most  favourable  circum- 
stances, they  would  need  too  much  time,  and  evidence,  and 
discrimination,  for  their  own  establishment;  and  would 
always  remain  of  a  character  too  uncertain  to  permit  their 
being  used  with  any  effect  in  proof  of  a  divine  revelation. 
They  would  answer  well  as  auxiliaries ;  but  would  require 
something  of  a  much  more  positive  nature  to  sustain  the 
chief  burden  of  proof.  The  claim  to  be  received  as  a  mes- 
senger of  God,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  revelation  to  the 
world,  could  never  be  substantiated  on  such  grounds.  Evi- 
dence is  needed  which  all  minds  may  appreciate.  It  must 
be  something  that  has  only  to  be  seen,  to  be  understood  and 
acknowledged.  When  a  plenipotentiary  presents  himself  at 
the  seat  of  government,  intrusted  with  certain  communica 
tions  from  a  foreign  power,  of  great  importance  on  both 


*  See  Gregory's  Letters,  i.  167. 


130  LECTURE  V. 

sides,  and  requiring  to  be  immediately  acted  upon,  it  would 
not  answer  for  him  to  plead,  in  evidence  of  his  delegated 
authority,  that  his  personal  integrity  is  unimpeached,  and 
his  communications  are  such  as  might  be  expected  from  his 
government.  The  time  for  action  would  be  lost  while  such 
proof  was  being  proved.  He  must  exhibit  credentials  which 
carry  on  their  face  the  direct  evidence  of  his  commission. 
He  must  show  the  broad  seal  of  his  sovereign  stamped  upon 
their  hand  writing.  So  must  an  ambassador  from  God. 
What  then  can  he  show  but  miracles  ?  What  else  can 
set  to  his  communications  the  seal  of  God?  "In  fact,  the 
very  idea  of  a  revelation  includes  that  of  miracles.  A  reve- 
lation cannot  be  made  but  by  a  miraculous  interposition  of 
Deity."* 

So  that  the  idea  of  miracles  can  be  unreasonable  or 
improbable  only  so  far  as  it  is  unreasonable  or  improbable 
that  God  should  commission  one  or  more  persons  to  make  a 
revelation  of  his  truth  and  will.  That  such  a  revelation 
was  needed  in  the  world  at  the  time  when  Christ  appeared, 
can  be  denied  only  by  asserting  that  the  additional  light  now 
possessed,  in  consequence  of  the  gospel,  is  superfluous  and 
useless.  This  denial  can  only  be  maintained  by  showing 
that  the  world,  sunk  in  idolatry,  vice,  and  darkness,  as  it 
was  universally  before  the  gospel  came,  had  all  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  and  all  the  assurance  of  his  will,  and  of  the 
retributions  of  a  future  state,  that  were  important  to  its  hap- 
piness. A  matter  of  proof  which  I  suppose  no  one  here 
imagines  to  be  possible.  Then  if  it  cannot  be  shown  that 
a  revelation  was  not  needed ;  it  cannot  be  proved  that  the 
idea  of  a  revelation,  from  a  God  of  infinite  goodness  and 
mercy,  was  either  unreasonable  or  improbable.  But  a  reve- 
lation can  be  attested  only  by  miracles.  They  are  insepara- 
ble. Consequently,  in  the  idea  of  miracles  being  wrought 

*  Gregory's  Letters. 


LECTURE  V.  131 

n  proof  of  divine  revelation,  there  is  nothing  either  unrea- 
sonable or  improbable. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  that,  in  the  circum 
stances  of  the  world  at  the  Christian  era,  a  revelation  was 
not  only  probable  but  necessary ;  and,  by  manifest  conse- 
quence, that  miracles,  as  its  necessary  attestations,  were  also 
not  only  probable  but  necessary.  Having  thus  endeavoured 
to  show  that  there  is  no  presumptive  evidence  against  a 
miracle,  except  as  it  lies  equally  against  a  revelation ;  and 
that  the  one  is  probable,  in  proportion  as  the  other  may  be 
expected  ;  let  us  proceed  to  our  second  proposition. 

II.  If  miracles  were  wrought  in  attestation  of  the  mission 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  they  can  be  rendered  credible  to 
us  by  no  other  evidence  than  that  of  testimony.  There  are 
various  descriptions  of  evidence,  as  the  evidence  of  sense — 
the  evidence  of  mathematical  demonstration — the  evidence 
of  testimony.  Each  of  these  has  its  own  department  of 
subjects.  A  question  of  morals  cannot  be  demonstrated  by 
mathematics,  or  proved  by  the  senses.  A  question  of  his- 
torical fact  can  be  settled  only  by  testimony.  It  might  as 
well  be  put  to  the  tests  of  chymistry,  as  to  have  applied  to  it 
either  the  evidence  of  mathematical  demonstration,  or  of  the 
senses. 

Not  only  is  there  a  separate  department  for  each  of  these 
species  of  evidence ;  but  each  is  sufficient,  in  its  appropriate 
place,  for  the  complete  establishment  of  truth.  By  this  1 
mean,  that  when  the  quantity  of  an  angle  is  proved  by 
mathematical  demonstration,  we  have  a  result  of  no  more 
practical  confidence  than  when  the  existence  of  this  house 
is  proved  by  the  senses,  or  that  of  the  city  of  London  is 
proved  by  testimony.  Proof  in  either  case  is  the  foundation 
of  entire  belief.  We  are  just  as  certain  that  such  a  man  as 
Napoleon  once  lived,  as  that  any  proposition  in  geometry  is 
true — though  one  is  a  matter  of  testimony,  the  other  of 
demonstration.  We  are  quite  as  sure  that  arsenic  is  poison- 


132  LECTURE  V. 

ous,  as  that  food  is  nutritious — though  one  is,  to  most  of  us 
at  least,  a  matter  of  testimony  only ;  while  the  other  is,  to 
all,  a  matter  of  sense.  We  are  perfectly  certain  of  all  these 
things. 

It  is  likely  that  some  minds  are  led  into  erroneous  notions 
of  the  comparative  conclusiveness  of  testimony  on  one  side, 
and  that  of  mathematical  demonstration  and  of  the  senses  on 
the  other,  on  account  of  the  technical  name  by  which  the 
former  is  distinguished  in  philosophical  discussions.*  It  is 
called  probable  evidence.  It  would  seem  to  some  as  if, 
because  probable,  it  must  be  less  satisfactory  than  the  other 
kinds  ;  since  in  common  speech,  what  is  merely  probable  is 
not  certain.  But  in  philosophical  language,  the  word  pro- 
bable is  used,  not  in  distinction  from  certain  evidence,  but 
simply  from  that  which  is  sensible  or  demonstrative,  without 
reference  to  the  measure  of  certainty  attached  to  it.  Thus, 
our  belief  that  the  sun  will  rise  to-morrow,  or  that  we  are  all 
to  die,  or  that  London  was  once  visited  with  a  dreadful 
plague,  is  founded  on  what  is  called  probable  evidence; 
though  we  should  be  suspected  of  lunacy  did  we  question 
the  propriety  of  acting  upon  it  with  perfect  assurance. 
Such,  then,  being  the  sufficiency  of  testimony  to  convey  a 
perfect  assurance  of  any  thing  in  its  appropriate  sphere, 
however  distant  in  point  of  time  or  place ;  I  return  to  the 
proposition  that  if  miracles  were  wrought  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  they  can  be  rendered  credible  to  us,  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  by  no  other  evidence  than  that  of  testimony.  Mathe- 
matical evidence  is  evidently  inapplicable  to  the  question.  It 
is  a  matter  of  fact  belonging  to  another  century,  and  therefore 
intangible  by  sense.  Nothing  remains  but  testimony.  This 
is  perfectly  appropriate  to  the  question.  If,  therefore,  the 
gospel  miracles  are  true,  they  must  be  substantiated  by  tes- 
timony, or  not  at  all.  We  proceed  to  the  next  proposition, 

*  Stewart's  Phil.  ii.  p.  179. 


LECTURE    V.  133 

III.  Miracles  are  capable  of  being  proved  by  testimony. 
This  I  consider  as  true  and  obvious  as  that  miracles  are 
capable  of  being  proved  by  the  evidence  of  the  senses. 
That  a  certain  person  was  dead  and  buried  yesterday ;  and 
that  he  is  alive  and  walking  the  streets  to-day ;  the  senses 
are  perfectly  competent  to  decide.  I  never  heard  of  this 
being  questioned.  But  if  I  and  twenty  others  saw  these 
facts,  is  there  no  way  of  making  them  credible  to  my  neigh- 
bour who  did  not  see  them  ?  Will  it  be  pretended,  that  if 
twenty  men  of  unquestionable  honesty  and  intelligence, 
should  solemnly  and  by  every  means  of  conviction  in  their 
power,  assure  me  that  they  saw  the  man  dead,  buried,  and 
in  corruption,  I  would  have  no  sufficient  reason  to  believe 
their  assertion  1  Will  it  be  pretended,  that  if  the  same  men 
should  in  the  same  way  assure  me,  that  subsequently  they 
saw  the  same  man  alive,  and  conversed  with  him  ;  I  would 
have  no  reason  to  believe  their  assertion  1  I  think  there  are 
none  among  us  who  could  avoid  belief  in  such  a  case.  It 
would  evidently  be  a  case  of  miracle,  believed  on  testimony ; 
and  to  maintain  that  it  would  be  believed  without  reason, 
and  that  no  conceivable  addition  of  honest  testimony  could 
furnish  reason  for  the  belief  of  those  two  simple  facts,  that 
the  man  was  dead  yesterday  and  is  alive  to-day,  would  seem 
an  absurdity  too  gross  to  be  touched  by  argument. 

Here  I  should  leave  the  mattter,  confident  in  the  common 
sense  of  my  hearers,  were  it  not  that  the  very  absurdity,  in 
view,  has  been  so  mystified  with  the  drugs  of  false  phi- 
losophy, so  disguised  under  the  dress  of  logical  forms  and 
ceremonies,  and  so  followed,  in  its  circulation,  with  the 
influence  of  one  of  the  chief  names  in  modern  scepticism, 
as  to  perplex  many  minds  unaccustomed  to  the  entangle 
ments  of  sophistry.  The  principle  that  no  conceivable 
amount  of  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle,  with  David 
Hume  for  its  original  champion,  has  been  eagerly  adopted 
by  the  many  whose  convenience  makes  them  unbelievers 

11* 


134 


LECTURE   V. 


but  whose  convenience  it  would  not  suit  to  attempt  an 
honest,  manly  answer  to  the  abounding  testimony  by  which 
the  miracles  of  the  gospel  are  proved:  A  labour-saving 
machine  was  wanted,  by  which  the  whole  business  of 
silencing  the  inconvenient  variety  and  troublesome  multitude 
of  Christian  evidences  might  be  done  at  once,  as  well  by  the 
ignorant  as  the  learned.  Hume  invented  it.  Any  body  can 
work  it.  It  is  not  necessary,  any  more,  that  a  man  should 
study  the  Bible,  to  refute  its  claims.  He  may  never  have 
seen  it ;  but  if  he  can  only  retain  in  his  memory  these  few 
talismanic  words,  "  No  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle"  it  is 
enough.  At  the  rubbing  of  this  marvellous  lamp,  the 
fabric  of  Christianity  passes  away.  The  terrible  genii  of  the 
gospel  mysteries  dissolve  in  air.  Like  a  similar  assertion, 
and  equally  philosophical  doctrine  of  the  same  writer,  that 
there  is  no  external  world — that  this  house  is  nothing  but  an 
idea,  built  not  of  matter,  but  only  of  mind — this  happy 
invention  of  sceptical  ingenuity  digs  so  far  below  the  founda- 
tions of  all  truth  and  common  sense,  that  the  man  whose 
convenience  bids  him  use  it,  may  feel  assured  that  not  many 
advocates  of  Christianity  will  descend  low  enough  to  spoil 
him  of  his  consolation. 

A  brief  attention  to  this  matter  will  not  be  out  of  place  at 
present. 

The  argument  of  the  writer  referred  to,  is  abridged,  in 
the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  as  follows :  "  Our  belief  of 
any  fact  from  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses  is  derived  from 
nc  other  principle  than  our  experience  of  the  veracity  of 
human  testimony.  If  the  fact  attested  be  miraculous,  there 
arises  a  contest  of  two  opposite  experiences,  or  proof  against 
proof.  Now  a  miracle  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature ; 
and  as  a  firm  and  unalterable  experience  has  established 
these  laws,  the  proof  against  a  miracle,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  fact,  is  as  complete  as  any  argument  from 
proerience  can  possibly  be  imagined ;  and  if  so,  it  is  an  unde- 


LECTURE   V.  135 

niable  consequence  that  it  cannot  be  surmounted  by  any 
proof  whatever,  derived  from  human  testimony." 

Now  all  this  is  very  conclusive,  provided  we  admit  its 
premises.  The  grand  hinge  of  the  whole  is  this,  that  our 
belief  in  testimony  is  founded  on  no  other  principle  than 

OUR  EXPERIENCE  OF  THE  VERACITY  OF  HUMAN  TESTIMONY. 

Hence  the  reasoning  is,  that  a  miracle  being,  in  the  author's 
estimation,  contrary  to  experience,  opposes  and  contradicts 
the  very  foundation  of  its  evidence,  and  therefore  destroys 
itself.  But  let  me  ask,  admitting  that  a  miracle  is  contrary 
to  experience,  (which  is  not  true,)  what  experience  is  it 
contrary  to?  The  argument  requires  that  it  should  be 
contrary  to  our  experience  of  the  veracity  of  human 
testimony.  To  say  merely  that  it  is  contrary  to  experience 
of  some  sort,  without  specifying  this  particular  sort,  does  not 
touch  the  question.  It  is  its  contrariety  to  that  particular 
kind  of  experience,  on  which  our  faith  in  testimony  (accord- 
ing to  Hume)  is  built,  that  must  destroy  the  credibility  of 
a  miracle,  if  it  is  to  be  destroyed  at  all.  But  this,  it  would 
be  ridiculous  to  assert.  So  far  from  miracles  being  incon- 
sistent with  our  experience  of  the  veracity  of  human  te^ti 
mony ;  the  truth  is  directly  on  the  other  side.  Deny  that 
miracles  were  ever  wrought,  and  your  whole  experience  oi 
the  truth  of  testimony  is  directly  and  violently  opposed. 

But  again — Is  our  belief  in  testimony  founded  in  our 
experience  of  its  veracity  7.  Prove  that  it  is  not,  and  the 
whole  argument  of  our  author  is  undermined.  The  proof 
is  easy.  None  depend  more  absolutely  upon  testimony  than 
those  whose  experience  is  almost  a  nullity.  Children  are 
perfect  believers  in  its  veracity.  All  writers  on  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  mind,  but  the  one  before  us,  consider  it  an 
original  principle  of  nature  that  we  should  rely  on  testimony, 
until  there  is  proof,  either  of  suspicious  competency  to  know, 
or  of  suspicious  honesty  to  speak,  the  truth.  This  principle 
is  necessarv  to  human  nature,  long  before  any  experience 


136  LECTURE  V. 

can  be  gathered  up.  Without  it,  how  could  children  begin 
to  learn  1  How  could  they  avoid  poison,  or  receive  whole- 
some food,  if  they  must  wait  for  an  experience  of  the 
veracity  of  their  parents,  and  nurses,  and  teachers,  before 
they  can  believe  what  they  testify  ?  The  plain  truth  is,  that 
instead  of  experience  being  our  whole  dependence  for  the 
credibility  of  testimony,  it  is  just  the  school  that  makes  us 
sometimes  suspicious  of  that  credibility.  It  teaches  us  that 
testimony  may  be  false,  and  furnishes  the  characteristics  by 
which  we  may  distinguish  between  that  which  is  suspicious, 
and  that  which  may  be  confidently  relied  on.  We  deny, 
therefore,  and  with  evident  reason,  the  whole  foundation  of 
the  argument  we  are  considering. 

But  again.  Another  essential  hinge,  in  this  argument,  is 
the  assertion  that  a  miracle,  being,  as  the  author  defines  it, 
"  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,"  is  contrary  to  experience. 
Here  we  might  deny  that  a  miracle  is  a  violation  of  the 
laws  of  nature.  It  is  only  a  deviation  from  those  laws,  or 
from  the  customary  mode  of  the  divine  operations.  But, 
waving  this,  what  is  meant  by  a  miracle  being  contrary  to 
experience?  Have  we,  or  others  ever  experienced  the 
opposite  of  any  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  ?  I  cannot  con- 
ceive how  this  could  be,  unless  we  had  been  on  the  spot 
when  the  miracle  is  said  to  have  taken  place,  as  when 
Lazarus  is  said  to  have  risen  from  the  dead ;  and  instead  of 
seeing  him  rise,  had  seen  him  continue  dead.  That  is  the 
only  way  in  which  I  can  conceive  of  opposition  between 
experience  and  a  miracle.  The  resurrection  of  Lazarus  is 
not  contrary  to  my  experience,  any  more  than  a  volcano  is 
contrary  to  it.  All  I  can  say  of  either,  in  this  respect,  is, 
that  I  have  never  experienced  it.  It  is  beyond,  not  in 
opposition  to,  my  experience. 

But  when  our  author  asserts  that  miracles  are  contrary  to 
experience,  what  are  we  to  understand?  Does  he  mean 
one's  own  personal  experience?  or  the  experience  of  all 


LECTURE    V.  137 

mankind?  If  the  former,  then  it  would  follow  that  testimony 
can  render  no  event  credible  to  us  which  we  have  not 
personally  experienced.  But  this  would  be  too  sweeping, 
even  for  the  most  absolute  scepticism.  On  this  ground,  a 
native  of  the  torrid  zone  might  refuse  the  testimony  of  the 
rest  of  the  world  in  evidence  of  the  fact  that  water  in  winter 
is  so  congealed  that  we  can  drive  our  carriages  upon  its 
surface.  He  need  only  say,  "  It  is  contrary  to  my  experience. 
I  have  never  seen  it,  and  therefore  no  testimony  can  make  it 
credible."  * 

But  does  our  author  mean  to  be  understood  as  affirming 
that  miracles  are  contrary  to  the  experience  of  all  mankind  ? 
His  argument  will  then  stand  as  follows :  'Belief  in  testimony 
is  founded  on  experience.  But  miracles  are  contrary  to  the 
experience  of  all  mankind.  They  contradict,  therefore,  the 
credibility  of  testimony,  and  cannot  be  proved  by  it.'  But  this 
is  a  manifest  assumption  of  the  whole  question.  Whether 
miracles  are  contrary  to  the  experience  of  all  mankind,  is 
the  precise  point  in  debate.  "We  assert  that  mankind,  in 
different  ages  and  places,  have  experienced  them.  Our 
author  is  at  liberty,  if  he  pleases,  to  assert  the  contrary.  But 
it  is  too  much  to  expect  us  to  receive  his  assertion  until  it  is 
proved.  And  if  his  argument  cannot  be  sustained  without 
thus  taking  for  granted,  in  one  of  its  'premises,  what  it 
seeks  to  demonstrate  in  the  conclusion,  its  correctness  is 
certainly  very  suspicious. 

The  admission  of  the  principle  on  which  the  argument 
under  consideration  is  founded,  would  lead  to  perfect  ab- 
surdity. "  There  was  a  time  when  no  one  was  acquainted 
with  the  laws  of  magnetism ;  these  suspend  in  many 
instances  the  laws  of  gravity  ;  nor  can  I  see,  upon  the 
principle  in  question,  how  the  rest  of  mankind  could  have 

*  On  Hume's  argument,  in  general,  see  the  references  in  Home's  IntroA, 
vol.  i.  p.  213 


138  LECTURE   V. 

credited  the  testimony  of  their  first  discoverer ;  and  yet  to 
have  rejected  it,  wou.d  have  been  to  reject  the  truth.  But 
that  a  piece  of  iron  should  ascend  gradually  from  the  earth, 
and  fly  at  last  with  an  increasing  rapidity  through  the  air, 
and,  attaching  itself  to  another  piece  of  iron  ore,  should 
remain  suspended,  in  opposition  to  the  action  of  its  gravity,  is 
consonant  to  the  laws  of  nature.  I  grant  it ;  but  there  was 
a  time  when  it  was  contrary,  I  say  not  to  the  laws  of  nature, 
but  to  the  uniform  experience  of  all  preceding  ages  and 
countries  ;  and  at  the  particular  point  of  time,  the  testimony 
of  an  individual  or  of  a  dozen  individuals,  who  should  have 
reported  themselves  eye-witnesses  of  such  a  fact,  ought, 
according  to  the  argumentation  (of  Mr.  Hume)  to  have  been 
received  as  fabulous.  And  what  are  those  laws  of  nature, 
which,  according  to  this  writer,  can  never  be  suspended? 
Are  they  not  different  to  different  men,  according  to  the 
diversities  of  their  comprehension  and  knowledge?  And 
if  any  one  of  ihem  (that,  for  instance,  which  rules  the  opera- 
tions of  magnetism  or  electricity)  should  have  been  known 
to  you,  or  to  me  alone,  whilst  all  the  rest  of  the  world  were 
unacquainted  with  it ;  the  effects  of  it  would  have  been  new 
and  unheard  of  m  the  annals,  and  contrary  to  the  expe- 
rience, of  mankind,  and  therefore  ought  not  in  your  opinion 
to  have  been  believed."*  If  this  be  the  legitimate  result 
of  the  principle  in  question  ;  if  no  testimony  could  have 
rendered  the  phenomena  of  magnetism  credible,  in  the 
dawn  of  knowledge  on  that  subject,  because  they  were  con- 
trary to  experience ;  it  is  evident  that  a  certain  truth  in 
Hume's  principle  would  have  been,  in  that  case,  directly  in 
opposition.  But  whether  the  experience  of  mankind  be 
opposed  by  phenomena  above  the  laws  of  nature — miracles 
— or  by  phenomena  which,  though  in  reality  according  to 
those  laws,  are  perfectly  new,  and,  to  all  human  view,  incon- 

*  Bishop  Watson. 


LECTURE   V.  139 

sistent  with  the  established  order  of  nature,  is  of  no  conse- 
quence to  the  argument.  Experience  is  opposed  in  both 
cases  alike.  It  cannot  be  less  absurd  in  one  than  in  the 
other,  to  maintain,  that  because  the  phenomena  have  never 
been  experienced,  no  testimony  can  make  them  credible. 

But  if  the  argument  of  Hume,  with  all  its  assumptions, 
and  false  statements,  and  equivocal  expressions,  were  true ; 
it  would  prove  not  only  that  miracles  cannot  be  proved  by 
testimony,  but  that  they  cannot  be  proved  at  all.  Now,  that 
it  is  possible  for  God  to  work  a  miracle,  none  will  deny. 
Consequently,  that  it  is  possible  that  the  miracles  related  in 
the  New  Testament  are  true,  none  will  deny.  Suppose  them 
to  be  true,  how  can  they  be  proved  to  us  ?  If  testimony  will 
not  do,  what  remains?  Mathematical  evidence — the  evi- 
dence of  the  senses — are  perfectly  inapplicable.  But  there 
is  no  other  description  of  evidence.  If,  therefore,  those 
miracles  are  to  be  proved  to  us,  it  must  be  done  by  some 
species  of  evidence  not  now  in  existence,  entirely  foreign  to 
the  laws  of  nature.  In  other  words,  it  must  be  miraculous. 
Miracle  must  be  brought  to  prove  miracle.  And  since  no 
testimony,  according  to  the  principle  we  are  considering,  can 
prove  a  miracle,  the  very  miracle  which  is  brought  in  proof 
of  those  in  the  New  Testament,  must  itself  be  proved  by 
another  before  it  can  be  believed  by  any  who  did  not  see  it. 
But  what  an  absurdity  is  here !  If  Jesus  did  open  the  eyes 
of  the  blind,  who  can  maintain  that  God  has  no  way  of 
giving  all  generations  reason  to  believe  it  without  an  unceas- 
ing series  of  miracles  in  all  places,  for  the  purpose  7 

There  is  but  one  way  of  evading  this  extreme  and  absurd 
conclusion.  It  must  be  denied  that  we  have  any  reason  to 
believe  that  God  can  work  a  miracle.  For  as  long  as  it  is 
acknowledged  to  be  possible  that  God,  by  the  apostles,  did 
work  miracles,  the  possibility  of  His  making  them  credible  to 
us,  without  other  miracles  to  prove  them,  and  by  the  natural 
means  of  human  testimony,  must  alsc  oe  acknowledged : 


140  LECTURE    V. 

(he  latter,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  being  no  greater  effort  of 
power  than  the  former.  To  this  necessity,  the  sagacity  of 
our  philosopher  was  not  blind.  Nor  does  he  scruple  at  em- 
bracing it,  rather  than  give  up  his  favourite  discovery. 
Speaking  of  some  alleged  miracles,  he  writes :  "  What  have 
we  to  oppose  to  such  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  but  the  absolute  im- 
possibility or  miraculous  nature  of  the  event  ?"  In  this  sen- 
tence, it  is  evident  that  "absolute  impossibility  "  and  "miracu- 
lous nature"  are  used  as  equivalent  expressions.  But  else- 
where he  endeavours  to  persuade  us  that  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  a  miracle  is  possible  with  God.  "  Though 
the  Being  (he  says)  to  whom  the  miracle  is  ascribed,  be,  in 
this  case,  Almighty,  it  does  not,  on  that  account,  become  a 
whit  more  probable ;  since  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  know 
the  attributes  or  actions  of  such  a  Being,  otherwise  than 
from  the  experience  which  we  have  of  his  productions,  in 
the  usual  course  of  nature."  This  brings  us  directly  to 
atheism.  The  argument  is  thus.  We  know  the  attributes 
of  God  only  by  the  experience  of  his  works  in  the  usual 
course  of  nature.  But,  according  to  our  philosopher,  we 
have  no  experience  of  a  miracle  among  those  works.  Con- 
sequently, we  have  no  knowledge  that  there  is  any  divine 
attribute  by  which  God  can  produce  a  miracle.  Now, 
besides  the  folly  of  denying  the  possibility  of  a  miracle, 
because  nothing  like  it  is  found  in  the  usual  course  of  nature, 
when  a  miracle,  by  its  definition,  is  out  of  the  usual  course 
of  mature ;  we  have  here  the  plain  denial  of  the  omnipo- 
tence of  God.  For  if  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
God  can  produce  an  event  differing  from  and  above  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature,  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  is  Almighty  ;  or  that  he  is  the  Sovereign  of  Nature  ; 
or  that  He  created,  and  preserves,  and  governs,  all  things. 
The  nature  and  majesty  of  God  are  denied  by  this  argu- 
ment. It  is  atheism.  There  is  no  stopping  place  for  con- 
sistency between  the  first  principle  of  the  essay  of  Hume, 


LECTURE    V.  141 

and  the  last  step  in  the  denial  of  God  with  the  abyss  of 
darkness  for  ever.  Hume,  accordingly,  had  no  belief  in  the 
being  of  God.  If  he  did  not  positively  deny  it,  he  could  not 
assert  that  he  believed  it.  He  was  a  poor,  blind,  groping 
compound  of  contradictions.  He  was  literally  "without 
3od  and  without  hope ;"  "  doting  about  questions  and  strifes 
:>f  words ;"  and  rejecting  life  and  immortality  out  of  defer- 
t  nee  to  a  paltry  quibble,  which  common  sense  is  ashamed  of. 
"An  unfortunate  disposition  to  doubt  every  thing,"  said 
Lord  Charlemont,  one  of  his  particular  friends  and  admirers, 
"  seemed  interwoven  with  the  nature  of  Hume,  and  never 
was  there,  I  am  convinced,  a  more  thorough  and  sincere 
sceptic.  He  seemed  not  to  be  certain  even  of  his  own 
present  existence,  and  could  not.  therefore,  be  expected  to 
entertain  any  settled  opinion  respecting  his  future  state." 

But  it  was  very  needless  for  our  author  to  give  himself  so 
much  intellectual  effort  as  must  have  been  required  for  the 
invention  of  this  short  and  easy  method  of  undermining  the 
evidences  of  Christianity,  when  he  had  previously  produced 
a  much  shorter  and  easier  plan.  He  had  already  proved,  in 
his  estimation,  that  there  is  no  external  world — nothing  but 
ideas  ;  consequently  there  can  be  no  external  miracles — 
nothing  but  miraculous  ideas.  Why  not  hold  to  this'/ 
It  was  certainly  just  as  reasonable ;  just  as  consistent  with 
philosophy  and  common  sense,  as  the  idea  that  no  testimony 
can  prove  a  miracle. 

But  our  sweeping  sceptic  was  not  quite  so  well  satisfied 
with  his  arguments  against  all  testimony  and  all  sense,  as 
would  at  first  appear.  Speaking  of  his  speculations,  he 
says :  "  they  have  so  wrought  upon  me,  and  heated  my 
brain,  that  I  am  ready  to  reject  all  belief  and  reasoning,  and 
can  look  upon  no  opinion  even  as  more  probable  or  likely 
than  another.  Where  am  I,  or  what  1  From  what  causes 
do  I  derive  my  existence,  and  to  what  condition  shall  I 
return  ?  Whose  favour  shall  I  court,  and  whose  anger  must 

12 


142  LECTURE    V. 

I  dread  1  What  beings  surround  me,  and  on  whom  have  1 
any  influence,  or  who  have  any  influence  on  me  ?  I  am 
confounded  with  all  these  questions,  and  begin  to  fancy 
myself  in  the  most  deplorable  condition  imaginable,  envi- 
roned with  the  deepest  darkness,  and  utterly  deprived  of  the 
Use  of  every  member  and  faculty."  A  sad  confession  this 
of  the  satisfaction  of  what  he  calls  "  ike  calm,  though  obscure 
regions  of  philosophy" 

But  he  proceeds :  "  Most  fortunately  it  happens  that  since 
reason  is  incapable  of  dispelling  these  clouds,  nature  herself 
suffices  to  that  purpose,  and  cures  me  of  this  philosophical 
melancholy  and  delirium,  either  by  relaxing  this  bent  of 
mind,  or  by  some  avocation  and  lively  impression  of  my 
senses,  which  obliterates  all  these  chimeras.  I  dine.  I  play 
a  game  of  back-gammon,  I  converse  and  am  merry  with  my 
friends ;  and  when,  after  three  or  four  hours  amusement,  I 
would  return  to  these  speculations,  they  appear  so  cold,  and 
strained,  and  ridiculous,  that  I  cannot  find  in  my  heart  to 
enter  into  them  any  farther."  A  sad  exhibition  this  of  the 
dignity  and  consolations  of  scepticism.  But  if  Mr.  Hume 
was  sometimes  constrained  to  look  upon  his  own  specula- 
tions as  strained  and  ridiculous,  we  may  be  pardoned  if  they 
appear  to  us  in  the  same  aspect.  Indeed,  it  was  more  than 
he  could  do,  to  write  consistently  with  them,  for  any  length 
of  time.  His  own  common  sense  insisted,  sometimes,  on  the 
privilege  of  speech ;  so  that,  after  all  the  show  of  reasoning 
to  which  we  have  been  attending;  after  having  asserted 
that  "  a  miracle,  supported  by  any  human  testimony,  is  more 
properly  a  subject  of  derision  than  of  argument"  we  find 
him  apparently  coming  to  himself,  and  making  the  following 
most  singular  acknowledgment :  "  I  own  there  may  possibly 
be  miracles  of  such  a  kind  as  to  admit  of  proof  from 
human  testimony.1"  He  then  states  an  imaginary  case  of 
miraculous  occurrence,  attested  by  a  measure  of  proof, 
which,  he  says,  philosophers  ought  to  receive  as  certain 


LECTURE  V.  143 

testimony.  But  how  is  this  ?  Has  he  entirely  abandonee! 
his  ground  ?  One  would  think  so.  But  mark  his  method 
of  escape.  We  quote  his  words:  "But  should  this  miracle 
be  ascribed  to  a  new  system  of  religion,  men  in  all  ages 
have  been  so  imposed  on  by  ridiculous  stories  of  that  kind, 
that  this  very  circumstance  would  be  a  full  proof  of  the 
cheat."  Here,  evidently,  the  whole  ground  is  changed.  Mi- 
racles are  no  more  considered  as  incapable  of  proof  by 
testimony.  They  are  no  more  set  at  nought  because  con- 
trary to  experience.  It  is  admitted  they  may  be  proved  by 
testimony,  whether  with  object  or  without  it,  except  when 
the  object  is  religion.  It  is  nothing,  therefore,  in  the  nature 
of  a  miracle,  but  only  in  its  application,  that  renders  it 
incredible.  This  is  indeed  a  change.  A  miracle  may  be 
proved  any  where  but  in  the  service  of  a  revelation  from 
God.  But  why  ?  Because,  says  our  author,  "  men  in  all 
ages  have  been  so  imposed  on  by  ridiculous  stories  of  that 
kind."  Now,  besides  that  it  is  untrue  that  any  religion,  but 
that  of  the  Bible,  ever  attempted  to  set  up  its  claims  by  the 
credentials  of  miracles,  this  is  utter  trifling.  After  all  the 
metaphysical  parade  to  which  we  have  been  attending ;  are 
we  brought  to  this,  that,  because  some  men  have  been  knaves 
and  fools,  therefore  all  must  be  such  ?  Can  we  believe  in 
the  sincerity  of  none,  because  hypocrites  have  been  many  1 
Must  we  refuse  belief  in  any  accounts  of  physical  phe- 
nomena, because  men  in  all  ages  have  been  imposed  on  by 
ridiculous  accounts  of  such  things?  Must  we  decline 
accepting  any  notes  issued  by  our  banks,  because  men  have 
so  often  been  imposed  on  by  counterfeit  currency  ?  On  the 
3ontrary,  counterfeit  currency  is  positive  proof  that  there  is 
>uch  a  thing  as  a  sound  and  honest  currency.  And  in  like 
nanner,  the  fact  of  spurious  pretensions  to  miracles,  so  far 
jom  being  a  reason  for  rejecting  all  accounts  of  miracles,  is 
i  strong  presumptive  proof  that  some  of  them  are  true.  An 
argument  which  finds  itself  constrained  to  seek  refuge 


144 


LECTURE   V. 


under  the  shadow  of  such  a  position  as  this,  must  indeed 
have  been  reduced  to  an  extremity. 

We  have  dwelt  on  this  desperate  effort  of  the  most  noted 
and  acute  sceptic  of  modem  times,  much  longer  than  was 
called  for  by  any  thing  either  difficult  or  important  in  itself, 
because  it  affords  a  very  strong  presumptive  proof  of  the 
impossibility,  by  any  force  of  talent  or  skilfulness  of  ma- 
noeuvre, of  breaking  the  solid  mass  of  testimony  by  which 
the  miracles  of  the  gospel  are  defended.  Such  a  mind,  as 
that  of  the  historian  of  England,  would  never  have  descended 
to  the  absurdity  of  denying  the  credibility  of  any  testimony 
in  proof  of  a  miracle,  had  it  not  been  that  all  his  efforts  to 
pick  a  flaw  in  the  testimony  of  those  of  Christianity  had 
utterly  failed.  Show  me  a  man  endeavouring  to  pick  his 
way  through  the  stone  wall  of  a  prison,  and  I  need  not 
be  told  that  he  is  shut  up,  and  has  despaired  of  escape 
by  the  door. 

The  pains  which  all  sceptics  have  taken  to  escape  from 
being  shut  up  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  adopting  every  other 
conceivable  method  than  the  one  simple  and  equitable  plan 
of  refuting  the  direct  evidences  of  Christianity,  should  be 
considered  unequivocable  proof  that  there  is  a  force  in  those 
evidences  which  their  enemies  dare  not  encounter  face  to 
face — something  that  persuades  the  bold  champion  of  infi- 
delity that  in  this  warfare,  "  discretion  is  the  better  part 
of  valour." 

But  we  cannot  relinquish  this  division  of  our  lecture, 
without  pausing  to  draw  a  lesson  from  the  scepticism  of 
Hume.  Tnat  he  was  a  learned  and  very  ingenious  writer 
none  can  deny.  That  he  was  much  more  amiable  and  less 
unexemplary  in  his  temper  and  habits  than  infidel  cham- 
pions generally  are,  we  have  no  disposition  to  question. 
But  these  commendations  only  render  his  case  the  more 
affecting,  and  his  insidious  sophistry  the  more  dangerous. 
The  pride  of  reason  was  his  master.  The  praise  of  a  phi- 


LECTU11E    V. 


145 


losopher  was  his  idol ;  to  doubt  what  others  believed,  his 
habitual  tendency;  to  maintain  a  paradox  against  the 
world,  his  prevailing  ambition.  Under  the  influence  of  these 
dispositions,  the  very  fact  that  the  religion  of  Christ  was  a 
revelation,  requiring  him  to  sit  at  its  feet  and  learn,  instead 
of  a  theory,  flattering  the  sufficiency  of  his  own  powers  to 
discover  truth,  was  its  condemnation.  The  more  it  possessed 
the  sanction  of  ages  and  of  the  greatest  minds,  the  more  did 
it  rouse  him  to  its  rejection.  The  imposing  multitude  and 
weight  of  its  evidences  were  the  strongest  stimulants  of  his 
unbelief.  He  first  denied  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  and 
then  set  his  wits  to  contrive  some  grand  argument  by  which 
all  the  testimony  in  their  favour  might  be  undermined.  He 
reasoned  himself  almost  out  of  his  own  existence,  and  sur- 
rounded himself  with  impenetrable  darkness.  The  present 
was  all  contradiction,  the  future  all  "  an  enigma,"  to  his 
mind.  Poor,  unhappy,  philosopher  !  How  little  his  learn- 
ing could  do  in  the  search  of  truth,  for  want  of  humility ! 
How  easily  can  all  human  knowledge,  and  all  mortal  wisdom, 
become  foolishness,  when  the  wise  man  leans  to  his  own 
understanding,  instead  of  acknowledging  and  seeking  God 
in  all  his  ways  !  That  Hume  was  accustomed  to  pray  for 
guidance  in  his  investigations  of  truth,  it  is  impossible  to 
suppose.  The  great  fountain  of  light  being  thus  denied, 
God  gave  him  up  to  the  devices  and  desires  of  his  own 
heart.  Yerily,  "  He  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness." 
Thus,  most  justly,  did  our  philosopher  meet  with  darkness 
in  the  day-time,  and  was  permitted  to  grope  in  the  noonday 
as  in  the  night.  One  just  view  of  himself  as  a  sinner  would 
have  refuted  and  broke  up  his  whole  system  of  proud  unbe- 
lief. I  have  known  a  good  deal,  by  experience,  of  the  conflict 
which  infidels  maintain  behind  the  entrenchments  of  Hume 
and  other  champions  of  their  cause ;  I  have  known  also 
something,  personally,  of  conversions  among  such  people , 
and  it  has  often  astonished  me  to  see  how  immediately  a 

12* 


146  LECTURE  V. 

whole  system  of  well  jointed  infidelity  tumbles  to  pieces ; 
how  entirely  the  most  darling  argument  against  the  gospel 
is  changed  into  folly,  and  given  to  the  winds,  as  soon  as 
one  realizes  that  he  is  a  sinner,  and  must  stand  before  God 
in  judgment. 

IV.  Let  us  pass  to  our  fourth  proposition.  The  testimony 
in  proof  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  has  not  diminished 
in  force  by  the  increase  of  age.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
idea  that  the  transmission  of  remote  events,  by  successive 
testimony,  from  generation  to  generation,  weakens  their 
evidence  in  proportion  to  the  time.  'It  is  supposed,  that  had 
we  lived  in  the  fourth  instead  of  the  nineteenth  century,  we 
should  have  possessed  the  testimonial  evidence  of  the  Chris- 
tian miracles  in  much  greater  force  than  it  is  now  enjoyed. 
But  we  deny  that  there  is  any  reason  for  this  supposition. 
Mere  oral  tradition  must  weaken  with  age.  But  written 
testimony  cannot  suffer  loss  as  long  as  the  genuineness  of  the 
document  containing  it  is  unimpaired,  and  the  character  of 
the  witnesses  is  substantiated.  For  example :  suppose  it  be 
recorded  on  the  minutes  of  the  Young  Men's  Society  of  New 
York,  that  on  the  13th  day  of  January,  1832,  this  lecture 
was  delivered  to  its  members,  on  the  Evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  those  minutes  be  laid  up  among  its  records  ; 
and  the  society  exist  from  generation  to  generation,  keeping 
a  regular  account  of  its  transactions,  for  400  years ;  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  some  one,  searching  into  its  early 
papers,  should  read  the  minutes  of  the  above  event ;  the 
evidence  of  the  fact  would  be  considered  as  conclusive,  as  if, 
instead  of  400  years,  only  50  had  elapsed  since  its  occur- 
rence. The  event  would  be  as  certain  as  the  genuineness 
of  the  record,  and  would  have  no  reference  to  the  age  of 
either.  Let  the  society  continue  1 000  years,  and  its  records 
being  still  preserved  uncorrupted,  the  evidence  will  remain 
undiminished.  We  rely  upon  the  testimony  in  proof  of  the 
invasion  of  Britain  by  Julius  Caesar,  or  of  Italy  by  Hanni- 


LECTURE  V.  147 

bal,  with  quite  as  much  confidence  as  we  resoi  of  the  wars 
of  Charles  the  First  in  England.  And  if  our  present  ac- 
counts of  those  widely  remote  events  shall  be  preserved  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  the  confidence  of  our  posterity  at  that 
time  in  their  historical  correctness,  cceteris  paribus,  will  be 
as  complete  as  ours.  Indeed,  it  is  only  with  regard  to  the 
facts  related  in  the  Bible  that  men  ever  talk  of  any  diminu- 
tion, by  the  lapse  of  years,  in  the  credibility  of  testimony. 
But  with  how  little  reason  is  evident  when  you  remember 
that  a  matter  of  -historical  fact  is  of  the  same  nature  in  re- 
gard to  testimony,  whether  it  be  found  between  the  covers  of 
the  Bible,  or  those  of  a  Roman  historian.  For  precisely  the 
same  reason  that  the  event  of  this  lecture,  recorded  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Young  Men's  Society,  would  retain  its  evi- 
dence unimpaired  as  long  as  the  Society  and  its  minutes 
should  exist  together,  does  the  testimony  to  the  great  events 
of  primitive  Christianity  continue  to  this  day  unabated.  * 

The  Christian  church  is  also  a  society  which  was  in 
existence  when  the  events  recorded  in  its  scriptures  occurred. 
Its  principal  institutions  are  founded  upon  them.  Our  New 
Testament  books  are  its  records,  which,  like  those  of  any 
other  institution  of  past  ages,  have  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  members  of  the  Christian 
church  have  died  from  age  to  age,  but  the  church,  the 
society,  the  living  keeper  of  these  records,  the  librarian  of 
the  scriptures,  has  never  died.  The  passing  away  of  the 
several  individuals  who,  since  the  commencement  of  Chris- 
tianity, have  belonged  to  this  society,  has  no  more  to  do  with 
the  permanence  of  the  institution  itself,  than  have  the  rapid 
changes  in  the  particles  of  the  human  body,  with  the  perma- 
nence of  the  man.  There  is  a  personal  identity  in  the 
midst  of  continual  change.  The  man  of  seventy  is  the 
very  identical  man  that  he  was  at  twenty,  though  many 

*  Gregory's  Letters. 


14.8  LECTURE   V. 

times  have  the  particles  composing  his  body  been  entirely 
changed.  Thus  the  Christian  church  in  her  nineteenth 
century  is  the  same  identical  society  that  existed  under 
that  name  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  though  so  many 
generations  of  members  have  lived  and  died.  She  is  as 
capable  of  remembering  the  events  of  her  youth,  as  we 
are  of  remembering  the  events  of  ours.  The  records  made 
by  her  members  in  testimony  of  those  events,  and  in  the 
age  of  their  occurrence,  having  been  preserved  in  her 
possession  with  the  greatest  vigilance  and  the  most  zealous 
attachment,  are  as  certain  evidence  at  present,  as  when 
they  were  written,  of  the  facts  related  therein.  She  has 
been  reading  those  records  in  her  places  of  worship,  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  ever  since  they  were  written ;  and  she 
knows  as  well  that  they  have  preserved  their  personal 
identity,  and,  in  all  important  respects,  their  uncorrupt,  un- 
mutilated  character,  as  any  of  us  can  know  that  our  family 
bibles  are  the  same  now  as  when  they  were  purchased.  Thus, 
I  think,  we  are  warranted  in  considering  our  proposition 
sustained,  that  the  testimony  in  proof  of  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel  has  not  diminished  in  force  by  the  increase  of  age* 

V.  We  proceed  to  our  last  proposition,  that,  in  being  called 
to  examine  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  miracles  by  the  evi- 
dence of  testimony,  we  are  more  favourably  situated  in 
regard  to  moral'  probation  and  discipline,  than  if  we  had 
been  enabled  to  judge  of  them  by  sensible  evidence.  This 
will  appear  from  the  consideration,  that  evidence  obtained 
by  investigation,  and  appreciated  by  reflection,  is  more  con- 
sistent with  the  state  of  probation,  and  of  moral  discipline 
and  responsibility  in  which  we  are  placed,  than  evidence 
forced  upon  us  by  the  involuntary  agency  of  the  senses. 

We  are  under  trial  and  discipline,  as  well  as  to  our  under- 
standing, as  our  conduct.  We  are  responsible  as  well  for 

*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


LKCTURE  V.  149 

what  we  believe,  as  what  we  do.  Precisely  the  same  causes 
that  would  persuade  a  man  to  immoral  practice,  may  per- 
suade him  to  immoral  principle.  The  same  disposition  that 
would  induce  him  to  disobey  the  precepts,  may  lead  him  to 
deny  the  doctrines  and  evidences  of  the  gospel.  It  is  there- 
fore his  trial,  in  part,  whether  in  forming  his  opinion  of 
religious  truth,  he  will  so  resist  evil  example  and  prejudice 
and  so  deny  himself  the  influence  of  all  sinful  inclinations 
and  partialities,  as  to  enter  with  honest  candour  upon  the 
investigation  of  what  he  ought  to  believe  and  do,  with  a  full 
determination  to  embrace  the  truth  wherever  it  may  appear. 
Now,  with  the  nature  and  responsibility  of  this  probationary 
condition,  the  evidence  of  testimony  in  proof  of  the  Christian 
miracles  is  specially  consistent.  Did  those  miracles  appear 
before  us,  as  once  for  special  reasons  they  did  before 
multitudes,  forcibly  arresting  our  senses;  not  only  com- 
pelling attention,  but  almost  compelling  submission,  by  the 
palpable  and  amazing  evidences  attending  them ;  it  is  evident 
that  there  would  remain  comparatively  but  little  room  for 
any  freedom  of  mind  or  will ;  and  consequently  for  any 
moral  probation.  Liberty  of  will  and  of*  decision  would 
be  suspended  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  the 
senses  should  be  directly  and  impressively  addressed.  But 
the  miracles  of  the  gospel  addressing,  not  our  senses,  but  our 
minds,  through  the  medium  of  testimony,  possess  a  degree 
of  evidence  which,  while  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  who 
examine  it  with  suitable  impartiality,  is  not  so  overcoming 
but  that  one  may  reject  it,  if  he  choose ;  not  so  irresistible, 
but  that  persons  of  indolence  and  indifference,  or  of  pride 
and  prejudice — persons  who  examine  to  refute  it,  more 
than  to  ascertain  its  truth,  or  whose  habits  and  dispositions 
set  them  in  direct  opposition  to  the  holiness  of  the  gospel — 
may  receive  their  reward  in  being  allowed  to  continue  un- 
convinced. They  are  thus  dealt  with  in  a  way  peculiarly  con 
sistent  with  their  character  as  moral  and  accountable  agents. 


150  LECTURE   V. 

The  exercise  of  an  active  solicitude  for  the  discovery  of 
truth  thus  presented,  and  of  a  fair,  impartial  consideration 
of  its  evidence  before  conviction,  is  as  truly  an  exercise  of 
morality ;  as  much  an  act  of  moral  discipline  and  of  a  cor- 
rect temper  of  mind,  as  a  correct  religious  practice  would  be 
in  one  already  convinced.  It  is  also  as  really  an  exhibition 
of  immorality  and  dissoluteness  to  manifest  a  spirit  of  in- 
difference, or  of  prejudice,  or  aversion,  in  relation  to  a 
matter  of  such  infinite  importance,  as  if  one  should  display 
the  same  spirit  in  regard  to  the  most  necessary  duties  of 
moral  living.  "  Thus,  that  religion  is  not  intuitively  true, 
but  a  matter  of  deduction  and  inference  ;  that  a  conviction 
of  its  truth  is  not  forced  upon  every  one,  but  is  left  to  be  by 
some  collected  with  a  heedful  attention  to  premises ;  this  as 
much  constitutes  religious  probation;  as  much  affords  oppor- 
tunity for  right  and  wrong  behaviour,  as  any  thing  what- 
ever." *  It  tests  the  heart  of  the  inquirer. 

But  to  illustrate  our  doctrine,  take  the  case  of  one  who  is 
disposed  to  put  religion  away  from  him ;  who  comes  to  its 
evidences  with  a  decided  wish  that  it  may  appear  untrue, 
and  examines  thern  under  strong  aversions  and  prejudices. 
Suppose  him  suddenly  arrested  by  the  sight  of  a  miracle 
wrought  in  his  presence,  so  that  in  spite  of  all  his  dislikes 
and  evil  dispositions,  he  cannot  escape  believing.  Take  then 
the  case  of  another,  bearing  a  precisely  similar  character, 
who,  having  no  evidence  but  that  of  testimony,  is  obliged, 
either  to  discipline  his  mind  into  a  frame  for  candid,  honest 
investigation ;  or  else  hazard  the  consequences  of  an  inquiry 
conducted  under  the  influence  of  habits  and  tempers  directly 
hostile  to  the  clear  view  and  impartial  acknowledgment  of 
tiuth.  Suppose  him  to  choose  the  latter  alternative,  and  that 
he  is  permitted,  in  reward  for  this  voluntary  perversion  of 
his  judgment,  to  continue  in  unbelief.  I  ask  which  of  these 

*  Butler's  Analogy,  p.  li.  c.  vi. 


LECTURE   V.  151 

individuals  is  treated  in  a  way  most  consistent  with  his  con- 
dition as  a  moral  and  accountable  agent  ?* 

But  besides  the  greater  adaptation  to  a  probationary  state, 
there  is  greater  spiritual  profit  in  the  way  by  which  we  of 
latter  days  must  arrive  at  the  truth  of  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel.  Take  the  case  of  two  Christians ;  let  one  be  a 
disciple  of  these  days,  and  the  other,  Thomas,  one  of  the 
apostles.  They  are  equally  convinced  of  the  Saviour's  resur- 
rection, but  by  different  means ;  Thomas  by  the  force  of 
sight  and  touch ;  the  other,  by  a  careful,  honest  examination 
of  the  testimony  we  now  possess.  Which,  in  becoming  a 
disciple,  expressed  the  greater  love  of  the  truth  ?  Which,  the 
greater  readiness  to  receive  and  submit  to  it  ?  Thomas  had 

*  "If  (says  Butkr)  there  are  any  persons  who  never  set  themselves  heartily 
and  in  earnest  to  be  informed  in  religion ;  if  there  are  any  who  secretly  wish 
it  may  not  prove  true,  and  are  less  attentive  to  evidence  than  to  difficulties, 
and  more  to  objections  than  to  what  is  said  in  answer  to  them — these  persons 
will  scarce  be  thought  in  a  likely  way  of  seeing  the  evidence  of  religion, 
though  it  were  most  certainly  true,  and  capable  of  being  ever  so  fully  proved. 
If  any  accustom  themselves  to  consider  this  subject  usually  in  the  way  of 
mirth,  or  sport;  if  they  attend  to  forms  and  representations,  and  inadequate 
manners  of  expression,  instead  of  the  real  things  intended  by  them,  (for 
signs  often  can  be  no  more  than  inadequately  expressive  of  the  tilings  sig- 
nified), or  if  they  substitute  human  errors  in  the  room  of  divine  truth — why 
may  not  all,  or  any  of  these  things,  hinder  some  men  from  seeing  that  evi- 
dence which  really  is  seen  by  others,  as  a  like  turn  of  mind,  with  respect  to 
matters  of  common  speculation  and  practice,  does,  we  find  by  experience, 
hinder  them  from  attaining  that  knowledge  and  right  understanding,  in  mat- 
ters of  common  speculation  and  practice,  which  more  fair  and  attentive  minds 
can  attain  to 7  And  in  general,  levity,  carelessness,  passion,  and  prejudice, 
do  hinder  us  from  being  rightly  informed  with  respect  to  common  things;  and 
they  may  in  like  manner,  and  perhaps  in  some  farther  providential  manner, 
with  respect  to  moral  and  religious  subjects ;  hinder  evidence  from  being 
laid  before  us,  and  from  being  seen  when  it  is.  The  scripture  does  declare 
that  every  one  shall  not  understand.  And  it  makes  no  difference  by  what 
providential  conduct  this  comes  to  pass;  whether  the  evidence  of  Christianity 
was  originally  and  with  design,  put,  and  left,  so  that  those  who  are  desirous 
of  evading  moral  obligations,  should  not  see  it,  and  that  honest-mindec/ 
persons  should;  or  whether  it  comes  to  pass  by  any  other  means." 

Butler's  Analogy,  p.  ii.  o  vi. 


152 


LECTURE    V. 


only  to  open  his  eyeSj  and  reach  forth  his  hand ;  the  other 
pursued  a  course  of  candid,  patient,  serious  reflection.  Thomas 
required  for  his  conviction  that  the  Saviour  should  stand 
before  him,  and  say :  "  Be  not  faithless,  but  believing."  The 
other  went  forth  seeking  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  through 
all  the  reasoning  and  objections ;  all  the  patient  consideration 
and  Study,  which  circumstances  placed  in  his  way,  not  de- 
manding to  be  constrained  by  the  arrest  of  his  senses,  but 
prepared  to  submit  as  soon  as  the  testimony  was  sufficient. 
Now  it  is  plain  that  in  this  case  there  is  a  simplicity  of 
heart;  a  love  of  truth;  a  candour  in  its  pursuit,  and  a 
willingness  to  bow  to  it  at  all  cost,  such  as  are  by  no  means 
implied  in  the  conviction  of  Thomas.  It  is  plain,  also,  that 
the  moral  discipline  to  which  the  former  was  subjected — and 
the  state  of  mind  involved  in  the  mode  by  which  he  came 
at  the  truth,  are  far  more  conducive  to  his  happiness,  and 
afford  a  much  higher  promise  of  steadfast  and  elevated  at- 
tachment to  the  service  of  the  truth,  than  if,  like  Thomas,  it 
could  be  said  of  him :  "Because  thou  hast  seen,  thou  hast 
believed."  So  that  we  may  now  acknowledge  the  truth  of 
those  words,  "Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet 
have  believed ;  and  may  repeat  our  proposition,  that  in 
having  to  try  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  miracles  by  the 
evidence  of  testimony,  we  are  more  favourably  situated,  in 
a  very  important  sense,  than  had  we  been  present  to  judge 
them  by  the  evidence  of  our  senses* 

From  the  whole  truth  exhibited  in  this  lecture,  we  are 
called  to  adore  the  wisdom  of  God.  "  His  ways  are  not  as  our 
ways ;  neither  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts."  Why,  in  such 
a  momentous  business  as  that  of  religion  (demands  some 
weak  mortal),  was  not  truth  rendered  intuitively  certain,  so 
that  the  most  careless  could  not  mistake?  Why  (asks 
another)  should  such  tremendous  matters  be  necessarily 

*  See  Saurin,  on  Obscure  Faith. 


LECTURE    V.  153 

settled  by  investigation  and  argument;  by  the  weight  of 
testimony,  and  the  records  of  distant  ages  ;  instead  of  bring- 
ing them  at  once  to  the  test  of  every  one's  experience  ? 
"  Show  us  a  sign  /"  is  still  the  requisition  of  multitudes, 
who,  if  they  must  believe,  desire  to  do  it  without  trouble ; 
but  would  much  rather  be  excused  from  both.  God  is  infi- 
nitely wiser.  "  He  knoweth  whereof  we  are  made."  He 
has  dignified  us  with  reason,  as  well  as  sense ;  and  made  us 
capable  of  learning  by  reflection  and  study,  as  well  as  of 
knowing  by  instinct  and  necessity.  He  deals  with  us  as 
rational  beings.  He  makes  us  responsible  for  the  use  of  our 
minds,  as  well  as  of  our  limbs.  He  requires  the  obedience 
of  the  will,  the  labour  of  our  thoughts,  and  the  pains-taking 
of  all  our  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  in  order  that  we 
may  know  and  serve  him  as  becometh  our  natures.  m  To 
this  end,  He  has  so  constructed  religion,  and  delivered  to  us 
its  evidences,  that  whoever  is  sufficiently  interested  in  His 
will  to  bestow  his  best  thoughts,  and  affections,  and  efforts, 
upon  the  work  of  its  discovery,  truly  desirous  oi  knowing 
that  he  may  embrace  it,  and  earnestly  looking  up  to  God  for 
protection  against  prejudice,  and  for  guidance  in  the  way  of 
light,  will  certainly  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  what- 
ever the  grade  of  his  intellect,  and  will  arrive  at  it  by  a  way 
most  wisely  adapted  to  make  him  hold  fast  and  obey  it.  On 
the  other  hand,  God  has  so  framed  the  gospel,  and  set  before 
us  its  credentials,  that  whether  one  will  believe  or  not,  is  left 
to  his  free  and  voluntary  choice ;  his  probationary  character 
is  inviolate ;  his  reason  and  his  will  are  perfectly  responsible. 
If  he  desire  not  to  believe ;  if  his  heart  revolt  against  the 
gospel  on  account  of  the  humility,  and  repentance,  and  holi- 
ness, and  self-denial,  it  demands  of  him ;  if  he  study  its 
nature  and  evidence  carelessly,  proudly,  and  partially ;  if  he 
consult  more  the  objector  than  the  advocate,  and  try  to  invent 
reasons  for  unbelief  more  than  arguments  for  the  contrary : 
if  he  love  vice,  and  would  retain  his  sins ;  he  may  easily  con- 

13 


154  LECTURE    V. 

vince  himself  against  the  claims  of  the  gospel.  God  has 
left  unclosed  many  avenues  by  which  such  a  man  may 
escape  into  infidelity.  He  is  wisely  punished  by  being  per- 
mitted to  go  in  thereat.  God  may  justly  take  him  at  his 
word,  and  condemn  him  to  the  darkness  and  final  misery  of 
rejecting  what  he  investigated  so  unjustly.  It  is  the  wisdom 
of  God  that  His  truth  does  not,  in  offering  conviction  to 
such  examiners,  afford  at  the  same  time,  encouragement  to 
such  unworthiness. 


LECTURE  VI.  155 


LECTURE    VI. 

M  I  R  ACL  ES. 

OUR  last  lecture  was  occupied  in  settling  certain  prelimina- 
ries, for  the  purpose  of  being  enabled,  in  this,  to  enter 
directly  upon  the  work  of  weighing  the  testimony  to  the 
miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  The  question  to  which 
we  now  proceed  may  be  stated  thus :  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
claimed  to  be  received  as  a  teacher,  come  from  God  for  the 
purpose  of  communicating  a  divine  revelation.  His  apostles 
claimed  to  be  received  as  his  inspired  and  divinely  com- 
missioned agents  in  publishing  that  revelation.  All  appealed 
to  miracles,  as  the  credentials  of  their  embassy.  None  can 
deny  that  such  credentials,  plainly  ascertained,  are  certain 
proof  of  the  sanction  of  God.  The  appeal  to  them  is,  there- 
fore, unquestionably  fair.  The  point,  then,  which  remains 
to  be  determined,  is :  Have  we  satisfactory  evidence  that 
genuine  miracles  were  wrought  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  apostles  ? 

In  answer  to  this  question,  we  might  proceed  on  a  plan 
of  argument  which  would  occupy  but  a  few  moments.  In 
the  lecture  preceding  the  last,  we  ascertained  the  credibility 
of  the  gospel  history ;  in  other  words,  that  we  have  the  strong- 
est reason  to  rely  implicitly  on  the  narratives  contained  there- 
in, as  to  all  matters  of  fact.  Now  it  is  there  related,  that 
on  a  certain  occasion  our  Saviour  was  followed  by  five 
thousand  men,  into  a  desert  place,  where  they  were  an 
hungered — that  all  the  food  in  his  possession  was  five  barley 
loaves,  and  a  few  small  fishes — that  of  these  he  commanded 
his  disciples  to  distribute  to  the  multitude ;  and  after  they 
had  all  eaten  and  were  filled,  the  fragments  remaining  were 


156 


LECTURE  VI. 


much  more,  in  quantity,  than  the  original  loaves  and 
fishes.  These  are  plain  statements,  related  in  the  gospel 
as  unquestionable  facts.  The  gospel  history  being  credible, 
they  must  be  true.  To  call  that  a  credible  history,  and  then 
suppose  it  unworthy  of  reliance  in  such  prominent  particu- 
lars, would  be  absurd.  But  these  facts  constitute  a  miracle. 
There  must  have  been  a  miraculous  multiplication  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  Consequently,  in  having  proved  the 
credibility  of  the  Gospel  history,  we  have  proved  that  in  this 
case  a  miracle  was  wrought. 

Thus  might  we  proceed  with  regard  to  a  great  variety  of 
other  statements,  as  to  the  works  of  Christ  and  his  apostles ; 
and  I  fully  believe  that,  in  strict  justice,  nothing  more  ought 
to  be  required  in  evidence  of  the  gospel  miracles,  than  what 
has  been  already  adduced  in  proof  of  the  credibility  of  the 
narratives  contained  in  the  New  Testament.  But  inasmuch 
as  our  object  is  not  merely  to  exhibit  a  sound  and  conclusive 
argument,  such  as  ought  to  satisfy  every  mind,  but  so  to 
present  the  great  variety  and  abundance  of  proof  in  support 
of  Christianity,  that  no  attentive  candid  mind  can  help  being 
satisfied,  we  will  adopt  a  broader  plan. 

Before  proceeding  any  further,  let  it  be  remarked,  that  the 
religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  which,  in  its  first  intro- 
duction, appealed  to  miracles  for  evidence  of  the  divine 
authority  of  its  teachers.  Under  the  religion  of  the  Bible  I 
include  the  dispensation  of  Moses  and  that  of  Christ,  as  exhi- 
biting essentially  the  same  religion ;  though  more  largely 
and  clearly  revealed  under  the  latter  than  under  the  former. 
Both  dispensations  were  introduced  and  sanctioned  by  mira- 
cles. Now,  I  know,  it  is  a  common  supposition,  that  the 
same  mode  of  attestation  was  resorted  to  by  all  the  false 
religions  that  ever  gained  acceptance  in  the  world ;  and  that 
this  was  the  chief  cause  of  their  ascendency  in  the  public 
mind.  But  the  truth  is,  that  no  religion,  except  that  of  the 
Ribie.  was  ever  set  up  by  appeal  to  miracles  as  the  crederi- 


LECTURE   VI.  157 

tials  of  its  founder.  We  speak  of  miracles  which  are  capa- 
ble of  being  witnessed  and  investigated  by  others.  It  is  not 
asserted  that  many  wonderful  things,  of  a  miraculous  nature, 
have  not  been  pretended  to  and  boasted  among  the  disciples 
of  sundry  false  religions.  The  annals  of  paganism  abound 
with  relations  of  auguries,  and  oracles,  and  apparitions, 
many  miraculous,  not  to  say  ridiculous,  marvels  are  asserted 
of  Mohammed.  But  the  remark  is  applicable  to  all  of  these 
tilings,  and  is  of  great  importance  in  connexion  with  our 
present  object,  that  they  were  asserted  not  as  proofs  of  re- 
ligions appealing  to  them  for  credentials,  but  only  as  ap- 
pendages of  religions  already  set  up,  and  received  on  con- 
siderations entirely  independent  of  their  truth  or  falsehood. 
Jt  was  the  credit  and  influence  of  the  established  religion 
which  gave  them  all  their  currency ;  and  not  their  evidence 
which  established  the  religion  with  which  they  were  re- 
spectively connected.  The  prodigies  of  heathenism,  unac- 
companied as  they  were  by  any  pretence  of  proof,  had  no 
mariner  of  reference  to  the  setting  up  of  a  new  system  of 
faith,  or  of  a  teacher  pretending  to  a  divine  commission. 
Miraculous  stories  were  published  of  Mohammed  by  writers 
of  six  and  eight  centuries  after  his  death  ;  but  no  such  pre- 
tensions were  made  by  himself.  On  the  contrary,  he  ex- 
pressly disclaimed  miraculous  powers.  In  the  Koran  it  is 
written  of  him :  "  Nothing  hindered  us  from  sending  thee 
with  miracles,  except  that  the  former  nations  have  charged 
them  with  imposture."  Again :  "  They  say,  unless  a  sign 
be  sent  down  unto  him  from  his  Lord,  we  will  not  believe  • 
answer,  signs  are  in  the  power  of  God  alone,  and  I  am  no 
more  than  a  public  preacher.  Is  it  not  sufficient  for  them 
that  we  have  sent  down  unto  them  the  book  of  the  Koran,  to 
be  read  unto  them?''  We  grant  that  Mohammed  did  give 
out  to  the  credulity  of  his  followers  a  few  marvellous  doings ; 
but  they  were  such  as  cannot  be  included  under  the  title  of 
sensible  miracles,  inasmuch  as  he  always  took  the  discreet 

13* 


158  LECTURE  VI. 

precaution  of  having  no  witness  but  himself,  entirely  avo;J- 
ing  the  hazardous  experiment  of  resting  the  evidence  of 
his  divine  mission  upon  the  testimony  of  any  eyes  more 
disinterested  than  his  own. 

But  how  can  it  be  accounted  for,  that  one  of  such  high 
pretensions — aware,  as  he  was,  of  the  success  which  mira- 
cles had  obtained  for  the  gospel  in  times  past — should  have 
neglected  so  powerful  a  means  of  proselyting  the  world?  It 
was  not  for  want  of  importunity  on  the  part  of  others ;  for 
his  opposers  were  constantly  teazing  him  with  their  demands 
on  this  head.  It  was  not  because  he  could  anticipate  no 
favourable  influence  from  a  well-sustained  pretension  to 
miracles;  for  his  adversaries  assured  him,  even  by  oaths, 
that  on  the  evidence  of  one  such  sign  they  would  own  his 
claims.  Nor  was  it  that  Mohammed  was  too  honest.  The 
marvellous  tales  of  the  nocturnal  visits  of  Gabriel ;  of  bis 
own  night-journey ;  arid  of  the  transmission,  from  time  to 
time,  of  parcels  of  the  uncreated  book  from  heaven,  prove 
what  this  impostor  was  capable  of  attempting  when  allured 
by  a  prospect  of  success.  Nor  was  it  that  this  unequalled 
adventurer  was  deficient  in  an  unusual  degree  of  craft  and 
address  for  the  management  of  bold  imposture.  His  whole 
biography  would  refute  such  an  opinion.  Nor  was  it  that 
he  was  surrounded  with  a  people  peculiarly  prepared,  by 
knowledge  and  cultivated  discernment,  for  the  detection  of 
such  frauds.  The  age  was  one  of  the  darkest  in  the  annals 
of  man,  and  his  country,  one  of  the  darkest  of  that  age. 
Nor  could  it  have  been  that  his  cause  needed  no  such  auxil  - 
iary ;  for  the  fruits  of  his  labour;  during  the  first  three  years, 
were  only  fourteen  disciples ;  and  in  ten  years  his  cause  had 
not  advanced  beyond,  and  had  made  but  little  progress 
within,  the  walls  of  Mecca.  Then  if  Mohammed  was 
neither  too  honest  to  attempt  the  forgery  of  miracles,  nor  too 
iinskilful  to  manage  it  with  cunning  and  address ;  if  his 
cause  needed  it,  and  his  enemies  demanded  it.  and  the  bar- 


LECTURE  VI.  159 

barity  of  the  people  and  age  favoured  it ;  no  earthly  reason 
can  be  given  for  his  having  disclaimed  the  attempt,  except 
that  he  considered  it  too  difficult  and  hazardous  ;  too  certain 
of  detection,  even  among  a  barbarous,  credulous,  and  super- 
stitious race.  The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  one  that 
ever  ventured  on  such  evidence  in  proof  of  divine  original. 
This  single  fact,  united  with  the  well  known  truth  that, 
however  her  miracles  may  have  been  derided  and  suspected 
by  enemies,  none  ever  pretended  to  have  discovered  an  impo- 
sition, is  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  they  had  a  reality 
which  no  human  device  could  rival — a  truth  which  no 
human  scrutiny  could  alarm. 

In  coming,  therefore,  to  our  present  examination,  we 
should  feel  that  the  religion  of  the  Bible  stands  alone,  not 
only  as  to  the  wisdom  and  grandeur  of  her  communications, 
but  equally  so  as  to  the  boldness  of  her  evidence ;  the  subli- 
mity of  her  credentials  ;  and  the  godlike  dignity  with  which 
she  cometh  to  the  light,  that  her  deeds  "  may  be  made  mani 
fest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God." 

We  proceed  to  the  testimony  connected  with  the  miracles 
of  Christ. 

I.  We  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  supposing  the  works 
related  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  have  actually  occurred,  many 
of  them  must  have  been  genuine  miracles.  They  cannot 
be  ascribed  to  natural  causes.  If  five  thousand  men  were 
fed,  when  all  the  food  to  feed  them  with,  prior  to  the  act  of 
Jesus,  was  a  few  loaves  and  fishes  ;  if  the  centurion's  servant 
was  healed,  at  the  word  of  Jesus,  while  the  latter  was  no- 
where within  the  sight,  or  hearing,  or  knowledge,  of  that 
servant ;  if  the  man  born  blind  was  made  to  see  by  no  other 
physical  act  than  that  of  Jesus  putting  clay  on  his  eyes,  and 
his  washing  it  off  in  the  pool  of  Siloam  ;  if  Lazarus,  having 
been  dead  four  days,  did  come  forth  from  the  sepulchre,  at 
the  word  of  Jesus  ;  then  we  have  facts  for  which  no  natural 
causes  can  account.  They  are  unquestionable  miracles,  and 


J  LECTURE  VI. 

we  are  forced  to  the  alternative  of  either  denying,  in  the 
face  of  all  evidence,  the  truth  of  the  statements  contained 
in  the  gospel  history ;  or  else  acknowledging  that  miracles,  in 
the  fullest  sense,  were  wrought  at  the  word  of  Christ. 

II.  The  miracles  of  Christ  were  such  as  could  at  once  be 
brought  to  the  test  of  the  senses.     It  is  an  essential  requisite 
to  a  rational  belief  in  miraculous  agency,  that  one  be  pre- 
sented with  facts  of  such  a  nature  as  that  the  senses  of  those 
present  could  easily  decide  upon  their  reality  and  their  super- 
natural character.     Now,  that  the  senses  of  the  mo£t  ignorant 
were  as  competent  as  those  of  the  most  learned ;  that  the 
senses  of  any  man  or  woman  in  Judea  were  perfectly  compe- 
tent to  decide  whether  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  having 
been  dead  and  carried  out  to  be  buried,  did  arise  and  sit  up 
at  the  word  of  Christ,  and  continue  thereafter  to  reside,  a 
living  man,  in  Nain ;  that  any  one's  senses  were  perfectly 
competent  to  judge  whether  thousands  of  men  were  fed  with 
a  few  loaves  and  fishes,  or  the  blind  received  their  sight,  or 
the  lepers  were  cleansed,  or  those,  notoriously  lame  from 
their  birth,  were  enabled  to  walk  at  the  bidding  of  Christ,  it 
would  be  folly  to  doubt. 

III.  The  miracles  of  Christ  were  performed  for  the  most 
part  in  the  most  public  manner.     It  is  the  detracting  cir- 
cumstance of  all  the  most  plausible  pretensions  to  miracles, 
exclusive  of  those  of  the  scriptures,  that  they  were  done  in 
a  corner,  or  in  the  presence  only  of  those  already  inclined  to 
believe  them,  or  under  favour  of  circumstances  calculated 
to  prevent  a  free  examination.     Just  the  contrary  is  the 
fact  with  regard  to  a  great  portion  of  the  wonderful  works 
of  Christ.     Not  only  were  they  accessible  to  the  senses  of 
witnesses ;  but  to  the  senses  of  multitudes  of  witnesses,  of 
witnesses  of  the  most  eager  and  violent  enmity  to  the  claims 
of  Jesus ;  witnesses  of  all  ranks  and  classes  in  society — the 
learned  and  mighty,  as  well  as  the  ignorant  and  feeble — the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  the  priest  and  the  centurion,  as  well 


LECTURE    VI.  101 

as  the  publicans  and  beggars.  It  was  in  the  synagogues,  in 
the  streets,  in  the  open  fields,  surrounded  by  thousands — in 
the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  at  the  time  of  the  great  annual 
festivals,  when  an  immense  concourse  of  Jews,  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  crowded  the  holy  city,  that  almost  all  of  the 
mighty  works  of  Jesus  were  performed.  In  this  way,  as  in 
other  ways,  he  could  say  to  his  persecutors,  "  I  spake  openly 
to  the  world? 

His  miracles  were  wrought  upon  subjects  so  numerous,  in 
so  many  places,  and  in  such  circumstances,  as  that  none 
could  suspect  the  cases  to  have  been  previously  selected  and 
prepared.  What  the  condition  of  the  subject  had  been 
before  the  miracle,  thousands  knew,  and  all  could  easily 
ascertain.  What  it  was,  for  a  long  time  after  the  miracle, 
was  equally  notorious.  Those  who  were  cured  of  blindness, 
or  leprosy,  or  lameness,  or  palsy,  or  who  had  been  raised  from 
the  dead,  did  not  die  immediately  after,  nor  hide  themselves 
from  public  inspection ;  but  continued  to  go  in  and  out 
among  the  people,  as  living  examples  of  the  power  of  Christ. 
The  grave  of  Lazarus  was  surrounded  with  unbelieving  Jews. 
They  saw  him  come  forth.  They  had  as  much  opportunity, 
as  disposition,  to  find  out  whether  it  was  Lazarus  or  some 
one  else ;  whether  the  man  was  alive,  or  only  pretending  to 
be  alive.  Instead  of  being  immediately  snatched  from  their 
view,  he  was  seated  some  time  after  as  one  of  the  guests  at 
a  supper,  in  Bethany ;  and  so  well  known  was  the  fact, 
that  "  much  people  of  the  Jews"  came  to  the  place  to  have 
a  sight  of  one  who  had  been  raised  from  the  dead.  "  The 
chief  priests  consulted  that  they  might  put  him  to  death, 
because  that,  by  reason  of  him,  many  of  the  Jews  went 
away  and  believed  on  Jesus." 

IV.  The  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  very 
numerous,  and  of  great  variety.  It  has  been  a  characteris- 
tic of  all  cases  of  imposture,  that  the  wonderful  works  pre- 
tended to  were  but  few  in  number,  and  of  great  sameness 


162  LECTURE  VI. 

The  sect  of  the  Jansenists,  in  the  church  of  Rome,  pretended 
to  miracles  at  the  tomb,  and  by  the  posthumous  intercessions, 
of  the  Abbe  Paris.  But,  besides  the  want  of  evidence  thai 
any  of  the  facts  recorded  were  miraculous,  they  were  rieithei 
numerous  nor  various.  Could  this  be  said  of  the  works  of 
Christ,  it  would  deprive  them  of  one  of  the  most  palpable 
evidences  of  the  fearless  integrity  in  which  they  were 
wrought.  But  his  history  is  full  of  miraculous  works. 
Besides  about  forty  that  are  related  at  large,  we  frequently 
meet  with  such  accounts  as  this :  "  His  fame  went  through- 
out all  Syria,  and  they  brought  unto  him  all  sick  people 
that  were  taken  with  divers  diseases  and  torments,  and 
those  which  were  possessed  with  devils,  and  those  which 
were  lunatic,  and  those  that  had  the  palsy,  and  he  healed 
them."  Similar  declarations  are  made  as  to  the  miracles  of 
the  apostles.  As,  for  example,  in  Acts,  v.  16 :  "  There  came 
also  a  multitude  out  of  the  cities  round  about  unto  Jerusalem, 
bringing  sick  folks,  and  them  which  were  vexed  with  un- 
clean spirits ;  and  they  were  healed  every  one." 

But  the  miracles  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  were 
also  of  great  variety.  It  was  not  disease  of  one  or  two 
classes  only  that  Jesus  removed,  but  disease  of  all  kinds. 
Not  diseases  only,  but  all  kinds  of  human  calamity,  departed 
at  his  will.  Even  death  surrendered  his  captives  at  his  com- 
mand. The  blind  from  their  birth ;  the  hopeless  leper  ; 
those  that  were  lame  from  the  womb ;  those  that  had  long 
been  bowed  down  with  infirmity ;  the  withered,  the  palsied, 
the  insane — all  were  alike  delivered  of  their  affliction.  On 
two  occasions,  thousands  were  fed  with  a  mere  pittance  of 
food.  Thrice,  beside  the  instance  of  his  own  resurrection, 
did  Jesus  raise  the  dead.  A  corresponding  variety  character- 
izes the  works  of  his  apostles. 

V.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  remark,  that 
amidst  all  this  variety,  the  success  in  every  instance  was 
instantaneous  and  complete.  The  sick  were  perfectly  healed. 


LECTURE  VI.  163 

The  deaf,  and  blind,  arid  lame,  were  perfectly  delivered 
from  their  infirmities ;  the  leper  was  entirely  cleansed ;  the 
dead  arose,  not  merely  to  life,  but  to  health  and  strength. 
These  effects  were  as  immediate  as  they  were  perfect.  No 
sooner  was  the  voice  spoken,  or  the  thing  done,  that  was 
required  of  the  applicant,  than  all  was  finished.  Did  Jesus 
say,  "Let  there  be  light?"  there  was  light;  let  there  be 
health  ?  there  was  health.  He  left  no  time  for  second  causes 
to  operate — no  room  for  human  means  to  intervene.  "  He 
spake,  and  it  was  done.  He  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast." 
VI.  There  is  no  evidence  of  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of 
Christ  or  his  apostles,  to  perform  a  miracle  in  which  they 
were  accused  of  having  failed.  It  is  notoriously  true  of  the 
wonderful  works  ascribed  to  the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris,  for 
example,  that  the  cases  in  which  any  beneficial  effects 
resulted  to  the  applicants  were  very  inconsiderable  in  num- 
ber, compared  with  those  in  which  there  was  a  manifest 
and  total  failure.  But  although  the  ministry  of  Christ  lasted 
between  three  and  four  years,  during  which  he  was  continu- 
ally resorted  to  by  multitudes,  with  a  great  variety  of  cases, 
seeking  his  miraculous  aid ;  and  although  the  ministry  of 
his  apostles  continued  many  years  longer,  during  which  time 
they  are  said  to  have  been  attested  by  "  divers  miracles?  no 
case  is  mentioned  in  which  an  attempt  was  unsuccessful,  or 
in  which  an  applicant  was  denied.  The  language  of  the 
history  in  relation  to  the  multitudes  that  applied  to  Christ 
is  continually,  "  he  healed  them  ALL."  The  enemies  of  the 
gospel,  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  these  applicants,  did  never 
maintain  that  the  power  of  Christ,  or  of  his  disciples,  was 
exerted  unsuccessfully  in  a  single  instance.  Had  such  an 
event  taken  place,  would  they  not  have  discovered  it  ?  Had 
they  discovered  it,  would  they  not  have  proclaimed  it  far 
and  wide  ?  Would  any  of  the  books,  written  against  Chris- 
tianity in  the  first  centuries,  have  omitted  so  important  a 
fact  ?  The  total  absence  of  all  insinuation  of  such  a  thing 


164  LECTURE    VI. 

in  the  whole  controversy  between  the  primitive  Christians 
and  their  adversaries,  is  certain  evidence  that  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  was  never  made,  and  that  an  unsuccessful  appli- 
cant was  not  known.* 

Now,  on  the  supposition  that  the  miraculous  doings 
recorded  in  the  gospel  were  all  a  cheat,  what  a  miracle  is 
here  !  That  all  was  contrivance,  and  imposture,  and  acci- 
dent, and  yet  not  an  enemy  ever  detected  an  instance  of 
failure ;  that  the  machinery  was  never  out  of  place,  out  of 
time,  or  out  of  order;  that  it  was  equally  successful  in  all 
cases,  equally  ready  at  all  seasons,  always  invisible,  yet 
always  at  hand,  and  always  instantaneously  effectual — what 
a  miracle !  Who  is  the  man  of  weak  credulity  ? — the 
believer  or  the  infidel  ? 

VII.  The  length  of  time,  during  which  the  Saviour  and 
his  apostles  professed  to  perform  miracles,  should  be  specially 
considered.  Seventy  years  elapsed  between  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ministry  of  Christ  and  the  death  of  the  last  of 
the  apostles.  During  all  this  interval,  the  miraculous  gifts, 
in  question,  were  exercised.  Now,  as  every  repetition  in 
case  of  imposture  multiplies  the  dangers  of  detection,  and 
every  extension  of  time  makes  it  the  more  difficult  to  keep 
up  the  confederated  plan,  it  is  no  inconsiderable  evidence  of 
the  genuineness  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  that  they 
continued  to  be  wrought  and  inspected  during  a  period  of 
so  many  years,  and  yet  so  securely. 

This  consideration  is  the  more  important  when  you  reflect 
that  the  miracles  were  not  confined  to  one  or  two  places ; 
were  not  wrought  in  little  villages,  or  among  the  poor  and 
ignorant  only — but  that  the  scenes  of  most  of  them  were  in 


*  The  case  mentioned  in  Mat  rvii.  14 — 21,  would  have  been  an  example 
of  failure,  had  the  narrative  ended  with  the  inability  of  the  disciples.  But 
the  Master  performed  v/hat  they,  being  as  yet  in  their  noviciate,  had  attempted 
v*  vain. 


LECTURE   VI.  165 

the  chief  cities  of  the  Roman  empire.  Instead  of  remaining 
tog-ether  in  one  place,  or  moving  together  wherever  they 
desired  to  produce  an  impression,  and  then  confining  them- 
selves to  such  places  as  might  be  most  easily  deceived  ;  the 
apostles,  with  singular  folly,  on  the  supposition  that  they 
were  confederated  for  an  imposture,  separated  to  all  parts  of 
the  world.  They  went  alone  to  the  most  populous,  polished, 
and  enlightened  cities.  They  put  themselves  in  the  most 
public  places  of  those  cities;  thus  making  combination  im- 
possible, and  rendering  their  success,  as  mere  counterfeiters 
perfectly  miraculous. 

Vlli.  We  have  the  most  perfect  certainty  that  the  miracles 
of  the  gospel  underwent,  at  the  time  they  were  wrought, 
and  for  a  long  time  after,  the  most  rigid  examination  from 
those  who  had  every  opportunity  of  scrutinizing  their 
character.  Forged  miracles  may  pass  current,  where  power 
and  authority,  or  the  favourable  dispositions  of  the  people 
protect  them  from  too  close  an  inspection.  But  let  the  power 
of  the  magistrate,  the  authority  of  public  opinion,  and  the 
partialities  of  those  concerned,  be  once  leagued  in  opposition, 
and  the  imposture  cannot  escape.  Such  was  the  league 
against  the  miracles  in  question.  Never  was  the  power  of 
the  state  in  more  perfect  alliance  with  public  opinion,  or  more 
zealously  supported  by  all  the  envy,  hatred,  and  malice,  of 
which  popular  feeling  is  capable,  than  when  it  set  its  face 
against  the  gospel.  Not  only  were  these  miracles  exposed, 
by  their  great  publicity,  to  universal  examination,  but  they 
were  of  such  a  nature  that  any  mind  was  capable  of  examin- 
ing them.  Not  only  did  they  present  themselves  to  the  wise 
and  the  great,  in  the  chief  places  of  concourse,  and  in  the 
great  cities  of  the  world ;  but  they  were  such  as  necessarily 
provoked  every  description  of  scrutiny.  Being  performed  in 
avowed  support  of  a  religion  which  could  not  be  successful 
without  destroying  the  whole  hierarchy  of  the  Jews,  and 
advancing  its  victories  over  the  ruins  of  heathenism ;  they 

14 


106 


LECTURE    VI. 


roused  at  once  into  united  and  stem  opposition,  all  the  civil 
power  of  the  governments;  all  the  enmity  of  Jewish 
and  Pagan  priesthoods ;  all  the  partialities,  and  prejudices, 
and  national  attachments,  of  all  people.  The  enmity  of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees;  of  the  doctors,  and  lawyers,  and 
priests,  of  the  Jews,  must  have  been  fired  with  peculiar 
indignation.  As  miracles  multiplied  and  disciples  increased, 
the  deepest  interest  must  have  been  awakened  in  relation  to 
them  among  all  classes  of  society.  This  we  know  to  have 
been  the  case.  Hence  it  is  certain  that  they  did  not  escape 
the  most  thorough  examination  ;  that  all  the  ingenuity  and 
diligence  of  contemporaries  and  eye-witnesses,  animated  by 
the  strongest  motives,  and  favoured  by  every  conceivable 
advantage,  were  enlisted  in  the  trial;  and  this,  not  for  a  day, 
or  a  week,  or  a  month,  but  as  long  as  miracles  were  pro- 
fessed, and  a  hope  of  detection  remained. 

IX.  It  is  a  matter  deserving  of  special  remembrance,  that 
the  adversaries  of  the  gospel  were  placed  in  the  most  favoura- 
ble circumstances  for  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  reality 
of  its 'miracles,  by  their  being  published  and  appealed  to 
immediately  after,  and  in  the  very  places  where,  they  occur- 
red. The  miracles  ascribed  to  the  founder  of  the  society  of 
Jesuits  are  sufficiently  answered  by  the  fact  that,  during  his 
life,  and  for  many  years  after  his  death,  nothing  was  heard 
of  them.  Those  of  Francis  Xavier,  one  of  the  first  disci- 
ples of  Loyola,  are  deficient  in  evidence,  because,  having 
been  wrought  (as  it  is  stated)  in  the  far  distant  East,  they 
were  first  published  in  the  western  world;  and  the  narratives, 
if  they  ever  reached  the  places  to  which  they  relate,  could 
not  have  been  known  there  till  long  after  the  opportunity 
of  a  close  investigation  had  passed  away,  and  must  have 
been  published  among  a  people  too  indifferent  to  be  at  the 
pains  of  inquiring  into  their  truth  or  falsehood.  But  the 
miracles  of  the  gospel  were  published  immediately  after,  and 
in  the  eery  places  of,  their  occurrence.  Tt  is  true,  indeed, 


LECTURE    VI.  167 

that  the  earliest  gospel,  that  of  St.  Matthew,  is  not  by  any 
supposed  to  have  been  published  earlier  than  the  seventh  or 
eighth  year  after  the  death  of  Christ.  Supposing  this  to 
have  been  the  first  publication  of  the  miracles,  it  was  suffi- 
ciently near  their  date  to  afford  every  reasonable  opportu- 
nity of  investigation. 

But  we  know  from  the  gospel  history,  that  during  the 
three  years  of  the  Saviour's  ministry,  and  all  the  while  the 
apostles  laboured,  their  miracles  were  notorious.  The 
scribes  and  Pharisees  met  in  council  on  the  subject.  Many, 
unable  to  deny  them,  ascribed  them  to  demoniacal  power. 
Herod,  when  he  heard  of  them,  said :  "  This  is  John  the 
Baptist ;  he  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  and  therefore  mighty 
works  do  show  forth  themselves  in  him."*  The  fame  of  the 
miracles  of  Jesus,  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  "  went 
throughout  all  Syria,"  so  that  multitudes,  with  all  kinds  of 
afflictions,  flocked  to  him  from  all  quarters  to  be  healed,  and, 
vheri  healed,  returned  to  publish  still  more  widely  the 
•arorks  of  their  deliverer.!  The  raising  of  Lazarus  was  so 
widely  published  in  Bethany,  where  it  took  place,  and  in  the 
region  round  about,  that,  in  a  few  days,  "  much  people  of 
the  Jews  came,  not  for  Jesus'  sake  only,  but  that  they  might 
see  Lazarus  also,  whom  he  had  raised  from  the  dead."t 
When,  at  the  word  of  Peter  and  John,  the  impotent  man,  at 
the  gate  of  the  temple,  had  been  made  whole,  they  imme- 
liately  published  the  miracle  on  the  spot,  to  the  multitude  of 
Jerusalem ;  appealing  to  it  in  evidence  of  the  power  of  their 
Lord.  "  His  name  (said  they),  through  faith  in  his  name, 
hath  made  this  man  strong,  whom  ye  see  and  know :  yea, 
the  faith  which  is  by  him,  hath  given  him  this  perfect  sound 
ness  in  the  presence  of  you  aZ/."§  Only  about  fifty  days 
was  Jesus  risen  from  the  dead,  when  his  disciples  began  to 
proclaim  every  where,  and  first  at  Jerusalem,  among  those 

*  Mat  xiv.  1  and  2.     t  Ib.  iv.  23—25.     t  John,  xii.  9.     5  Acts,  iii.  16. 


168  LECTURE    VI. 

who  slew  him  and  had  set  the  guard  at  the  sepulchre,  this 
chief  of  miracles.  They  appealed  to  it  in  every  discourse ; 
challenged  every  examination ;  defied  all  contradiction.  All 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  they  declared  before  the  very  people 
whom  they  asserted  to  have  witnessed  them.  "  Ye  men  of 
Israel,  hear  these  words  (said  Peter) ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a 
man  approved  of  God  among  you  by  miracles,  and  wonders, 
and  signs,  which  God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  you,  as  ye 
yourselves  also  know."*  How  eminently  this  bold  and  im- 
mediate publication  must  have  aided,  as  well  as  stimulated, 
the  investigation  of  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  furnishing 
those,  who  had  every  disposition,  and  all  power,  and  all 
intelligence  and  cunning,  with  every  opportunity  to  try  the 
minutest  circumstance,  and  ferret  out  every  clue  to  the 
detection  of  imposture,  I  need  not  show. 

X.  Now  consider,  who  the  agents  were,  whose  works  were 
obliged  to  stand  such  trials.    Had  they  been  men  of  learning, 
of  power,  of  wealth,  accustomed  to  any  thing  that  was 
calculated  to  furnish  them  for  the  work  of  imposing  upon 
mankind,  the  case  would  not  be  quite  so  strong.    But,  on  the 
supposition  that  Christ  was  a  mere  man  and  pretender,  what 
was  he  or  what  were  his  apostles,  by  education  or  standing 
in  society,  that  they  should  be  qualified  for  such  an  unparal- 
leled effort  of  ingenuity  and  concealment?     Is  there  any 
miracle  more  marvellous  than  that  which  is  involved  in  the 
idea  of  a  poor  and  unlearned  individual  of  Nazareth,  followed 
by  twelve  obscure,  unlettered  Jews,  for  the  most  part  accus- 
tomed to  nothing  but  their  nets  and  fishing-boats,  having 
practised  such  a  system  of  imposture,  under  such  circum- 
stances of  risk  and  exposure,  without  an  individual  among 
their  numerous  enemies  to  discover  their  secret,  or  detect 
the  deceit  ? 

XI.  Consider,   moreover,   that  notwithstanding  all  thai 

*  Acts,  ii.  22. 


LECTURE    VI.  100 

was  done  to  entice  and  intimidate  the  early  Christians  who 
were  eye-witnesses  of  what  Jesus  or  his  apostles  wrought, 
none  were  induced  to  confess  themselves  deceived  ;  or  that 
they  had  seen  any  thing  but  truth  in  those  miraculous  gifts, 
by  which  they  had  been  persuaded  to  embrace  the  gospel. 
It  is  not  asserted  that  none  who  professed  to  be  converted 
from  Judaism  or  paganism  to  Christianity,  ever  renounced 
the  cause  of  Christ.  The  persecution  of  enemies  was  some- 
times successful  in  forcing  their  victims  to  forsake  the  gospel, 
and  do  sacrifice  to  idols,  rather  than  be  burned  at  the  stake, 
or  thrown  to  wild  beasts.  But  the  case  cannot  be  brought 
of  one  such  unhappy  deserter,  whether  man  or  woman, 
having  been  persuaded  to  bear  witness  against  the  Christian 
miracles.  A  convert,  after  having  united  himself  to  the 
apostles  ;  been  received  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church  ;  and 
become  an  agent  in  advancing  its  cause  ;  must  have  become 
acquainted  with  its  secrets.  He  must  have  often  looked 
behind  the  scenes,  and  had  many  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  hidden  machinery  by  which  the  imposition,  if  any  existed, 
was  carried  on.  Had  the  evidence  of  contrivance  and 
forgery  been  ever  seen  by  the  primitive  Christians ;  those 
who  deserted  the  cause  had  every  motive  to  divulge  it. 
Their  own  indignation  at  having  been  deceived ;  the  rewards 
which  they  might  have  expected  from  the  enemies  of 
Christianity,  would  have  been  sufficiently  persuasive.  That 
none  ever  went  a  step  further  than  simply  to  give  up  the 
profession  of  the  gospel,  through  fear  of  torture ;  that  none 
ever  turned  round  upon  the  apostles  by  whose  miracles  they 
had  been  convinced,  and  charged  them  with  fraud  ;  is  abso- 
lutely inexplicable  on  any  other  supposition  than  their 
thorough  conviction  that  fraud  did  not  exist. 

This  evidence  is  specially  strong  in  the  case  of  Judas 
Iscariot.  He  was  one  of  the  twelve  who  always  companied 
with  Jesus.  He  was  the  treasurer  of  the  family — admitted 
to  every  opportunity  of  knowing  whatever  secrets  may  have 


170  LECTURE    VI. 

\ 

belonged  to  the  works  of  Christ.  That  he  knew  what  and 
where  the  imposition  was,  if  any  existed  in  the  gospel 
miracles,  cannot  be  doubted.  That  he  was  treacherous 
enough  to  betray  it,  is  manifest  from  his  having  betrayed 
the  Master  himself.  That  he  had  every  inducement  to  do 
so,  none  can  question  who  knows  how  precious  the  chief 
priests  and  Pharisees  would  have  considered  such  a  disclo- 
sure. Did  he  come  forward  with  any  such  thing?  He 
delivers  up  the  person  of  Christ ;  does  he  accuse  his  charac- 
ter ? — deny  his  works  ? — expose  his  cause  ?  The  Saviour  is 
arraigned  before  his  powerful  enemies — witnesses  are  called. 
Where  is  Judas  ?  False  witnesses  are  brought.  Where  is 
Judas  ?  Has  he  nothing  to  say  against  him  whom  he  has 
already  sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver?  The  enemies  of 
Christ  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  importance  of  such  a  witness ; 
nor  can  he  be  ignorant  of  the  gain  that  would  accrue  from 
his  delivering  such  testimony.  But  he  is  not  there.  The 
Jews  never  pretended  to  have  obtained  any  accusation  from 
that  traitor.  Not  a  word  is  spoken,  in  all  the  controversy  with 
primitive  adversaries,  about  the  treachery  of  Judas  as  having 
turned  to  their  advantage.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  written  in 
the  gospel  history,  and  was  never  denied  by  those  men,  that 
he  not  only  abstained  from  any  accusation,  but  in  the  strong- 
est possible  manner  confessed  the  truth  and  excellence  of 
Jesus  and  his  cause.  Under  the  stings  of  conscience,  and  in 
spite  of  the  covetousness  of  his  disposition,  he  went  and 
delivered  up  the  money  he  had  received  for  his  iniquity  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  had  paid  it.  Nor  was  this  all.  He 
was  constrained  to  confess  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders, 
whose  wrath  he  knew  it  would  inflame  to  the  uttermost, 
saying  :  "  I  have  sinned  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood."  "  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the  tem- 
ple, and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself."*  Stronger 

*  Mat.  xxvii.  3,  4,  5. 


LECTURE  VI.  171 

evidence  of  truth  and  righteousness,  it  is  impossible  for  any 
works  or  any  cause  to  possess. 

XII.  Having  considered  in  another  place  the  character  of 
the  individuals  by  whom  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  were 
performed,  it  is  important  now  to  remark  the  character  of 
the  miracles  themselves.  Either  they  were  real  miracles,  or 
false.  If  false,  the  individuals  who  performed  them  could 
not,  by  any  excess  of  infatuation,  have  supposed  them  true. 
They  must,  therefore,  have  been  the  deliberate  asserters  of  a 
divine  commission,  which  they  knew  had  not  been  given 
(hem ;  and  the  persevering  exhibiters  of  credentials  which 
they  knew  were  forgeries.  Hence  it  is  not  possible  that 
they  could  have  been  honest  men;  much  less,  good  men. 
And  inasmuch  as  they  must  have  acted  from  some  motive 
and  with  some  object  in  view,  and  we  cannot  suppose  that 
such  impostors  would  be  sacrificing  themselves  merely  out 
of  a  benevolent  disposition  to  promote  the  happiness  of  their 
fellow-creatures  and  relieve  their  woes ;  it  must  have  been 
some  object  of  ambition  or  of  gain  which  they  were  pur- 
suing. We  do  not  pause  now  to  show  what  perfect  idiots 
they  must  have  been  to  select  such  a  scheme  out  of  ambi- 
tious or  pecuniary  motives.  But  since,  on  the  supposition 
that  their  works  were  fictitious,  we  can  imagine  no  other, 
the  question  arises,  how  do  these  miracles  correspond  with 
the  idea  that  the  agents  were  impostors,  and  their  motives 
ambitious  or  covetous  ? 

Now  I  maintain,  that  considering  how  many  and  various 
are  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  in  what 
various  circumstances  and  by  what  various  agents  they  were 
performed,  and  that  not  for  a  month  or  year  only,  but  many 
years,  in  full  assemblages  of  enemies ;  it  would  have  been 
quite  miraculous,  supposing  them  false,  had  they  been  in 
every  instance  garnished  with  a  concealment  so  perfect,  that 
nothing  low,  or  mean,  or  undignified — nothing  betraying 
the  spirit  of  designing,  ambitious,  or  covetous  men— should 


172  LECTURE    VI. 

ever  have  been  manifested.  Take  up  the  accounts  of  any 
confessedly  fictitious  miracles,  in  any  age  or  country,  and 
you  will  soon  detect  the  hand-writing  of  the  spirit  and  mo- 
lives  that  produced  them.  But  most  singularly — contrary 
to  all  experience  and  all  law,  on  the  assumption  that  the 
miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  fictitious,  you  dis- 
cover nothing  in  them  but  what  is  entirely  worthy  of  the 
majesty,  holiness,  justice,  and  goodness  of  that  God,  by 
whose  power  they  professed  to  be  wrought.  The  most 
perfect  correspondence  appears  between  the  exalted  and  holy 
character  and  office  in  which  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
claimed  to  be  received,  and  the  works  by  which  their  claim 
was  sustained.  Propriety,  dignity,  disinterestedness,  benevo- 
lence of  the  loveliest  spirit,  and  compassion  of  the  tenderest 
sensibility,  distinguished  them.  Not  the  least  trace  is  mark- 
ed on  them  of  any  ambitious  or  other  suspicious  motive. 
Though  the  Lord  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  compassed 
about  with  reproachful  and  persecuting  enemies,  you  discern 
nothing  vindictive  or  resentful.  Though  always  in  personal 
poverty,  "  despised  and  rejected  of  men"  their  miracles 
discover  nothing  ostentatious — nothing  to  gratify  curiosity 
— no  anxiety  for  repute — no  aim  at  wealth  or  temporal  pow- 
er. While  feeding  the  hungry  by  thousands,  Jesus  continued 
in  poverty.  While,  as  the  good  Shepherd,  ever  following 
the  lost  sheep  through  suffering  and  want,  that  he  might 
administer  to  their  necessities,  he  showed  no  sign  of  any 
care  for  himself.  Now,  if  Jesus  and  his  apostles  did  not 
work  miracles  in  truth ;  if  their  high  claims  were  false,  and 
they  consequently  were  prosecuting  a  scheme  of  imposture 
with  selfish  purposes,  either  of  ambition  or  gain ;  there  is 
something  in  all  this  singularly  unaccountable — very  unlike 
the  iaws  of  nature — exceedingly  miraculous. 

XIII.  But  that  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  were  not  ficti- 
tious, but  genuine  and  undeniable,  we  have  the  plainest  and 
strongest  confession  from  the  primitive  adversaries  of  Christ 


LECTURE   VI.  173 

and  his  cause.  In  the  first  place ;  we  have  a  very  conclu- 
sive and  impressive  confession,  though  silent,  from  the  whole 
Jewish  nation  and  the  whole  Gentile  world.  It  consists  in 
this  unquestionable  fact,  that  no  individual  among  them 
ever  detected,  or  was  publicly  supposed  to  have  detected,  an 
imposture.  You  are  to  remember  that  these  miracles  were 
addressed  to  the  senses ;  performed  in  open  daylight ;  with 
all  possible  publicity;  that  they  were  exceedingly  numerous 
and  various  ;  wrought  by  many  different  agents ;  in  many 
and  remote  countries ;  before  citizens  of  the  most  enlightened 
cities,  and  in  the  most  enlightened  age  of  the  Roman  empire ; 
that  those  of  the  Apostles  did  not  cease  until  nearly  seventy 
years  from  their  commencement,  during  all  which  time  they 
must  have  endured  the  very  closest  scrutiny  that  the  com- 
bined forces  of  learning,  enmity,  and  political  authority, 
could  institute.  You  are  to  remember,  also,  what  kind  of 
men  were  those  who  performed  them,  and  that  the  accounts 
of  them  which  we  now  possess  were  published  far  and  wide 
m  the  very  places  where  the  works  were  done,  and  among 
the  very  people  who  are  said  to  have  witnessed  them.  You 
are  to  remember,  for  example,  the  miracle  of  the  gift  of 
congues  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  in  Jerusalem,  how  it  was 
published  abroad  in  Jerusalem  and  the  whole  empire,  that, 
on  that  day,  an  immense  multitude  of  people  of  all  languages 
were  amazed  at  hearing  the  twelve  apostles,  who  were  well 
.mown  as  unlettered  Jews,  preaching  the  gospel  in  so  many 
different  languages,  that  all,  whether  Cretes,  Arabians,  Meso- 
potamians,  or  of  any  other  name,  all  heard,  in  their  respec- 
tive tongues,  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  You  are  to  con- 
sider, that  in  publishing  an  account  of  this  astonishing 
transaction,  as  was  done  by  the  apostles  in  all  their  preach- 
ing, and  a  few  years  afterwards,  by  Luke  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles ;  an  open,  honest  appeal  was  made  to  all  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  who  had  been  assembled  on  that  day  m 
Jerusalem,  to  come  forth  and  deny  that  these  things  did  then 


174 


LECTURE  VI. 


and  there  occur.  Hence  was  every  possible  facility  afforded 
for  the  detection  of  imposture.  Without  a  miracle  for  its 
concealment,  it  could  not  have  escaped.  Had  there  been  a 
detection  with  regard  to  but  one  of  all  the  miracles,  we 
should  have  heard  of  it.  Judea,  and  Greece,  and  Rome, 
would  have  rung  with  the  news.  The  books  of  Jewish 
and  Heathen  adversaries  would  have  reiterated  its  publica- 
tion in  illuminated  pages  and  golden  capitals.  All  the 
generations  of  succeeding  adversaries  would  have  quoted  it 
as  one  of  the  dearest  bequests  of  classic  antiquity.  Is  there 
any  such  thing1?  I  sound  the  inquiry  through  the  whole 
region  of  Jewish,  and  Grecian,  and  Roman  history,  and  I 
hear  nothing  in  answer,  but  the  echo  of  my  own  voice : 
"Is  there  any  such  thing?"  I  must  answer  it  myself. 
There  is  no  such  thing,  in  all  that  has  come  to  us  from 
antiquity,  as  even  a  pretence  to  the  detection  of  imposture 
in  the  gospel  miracles. 

This  I  think  you  will  join  me  in  considering  a  very  im- 
pressive and  conclusive  confession,  though  a  silent  one,  from 
the  whole  Jewish  nation  and  Gentile  world,  to  the  undeniable 
reality  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  It  is  all  the 
evidence  we  could  with  any  reason  expect  from  enemies. 
When  Deists  bid  us  produce  the  testimony  of  enemies,  as 
well  as  friends,  it  is  perfectly  unreasonable  to  require  that  we 
should  find  enemies,  in  those  days  of  bitter  hostility  to  Chris- 
tianity, positively  acknowledging  that  it  was  attested  by 
miracles.  That  they  did  not  deny  it ;  that  Jews  and  Gentiles; 
that  the  Mosaic  and  the  Pagan  priesthoods  ;  that  the  Phari- 
sees of  Jerusalem,  and  the  philosophers  of  Corinth,  and 
Ephesus,  and  Rome,  were  silent,  on  this  head,  one  would 
suppose,  is  a  great  deal  to  get  from  such  adversaries. 

But  we  can  go  further.  Unreasonable,  as  it  is,  to  demand 
more  positive  testimony  from  enemies,  we  can  meet  the  de- 
mand. Having,  in  a  previous  lecture,  ascertained  the  credi- 
bility of  the  gospel  history,  we  may  now  appeal  to  it  for 


LECTURE    VI.  175 

the  acknowledgment  of  enemies.  Peter  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  assumed  the  fact  that  the  multitudes  of  Israel,  to 
whom  he  was  speaking,  acknowledged  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth had  approved  himself  among  them  by  "  miracles,  and 
wonders,  and  signs."*  "  This  man  doeth  many  miracles]  t 
was  the  confession  of  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  in 
council,  relative  to  Jesus.  "  What  shall  we  do  to  them  ? 
(said  the  Jewish  rulers,  in  relation  to  Peter  and  John)  For 
that  indeed  a  notable  miracle  has  been  done  by  them  is 
manifest  to  all  them  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem,  and  we  cannot 
deny  it  "I  You  know  that  the  only  way  of  escape  the  Jewish 
rulers  could  find,  while  they  could  not  deny  the  miracles, 
was  to  ascribe  them  to  magic,  or  the  power  of  demons.  "  He 
casteth  out  devils  by  Beelzebub"  &c.  But  we  have  similar 
testimony,  without  recourse  to  the  scriptures.  The  Jewish 
rabbies,  in  the  Talmud,  acknowledge  these  miracles,  and 
pretend  that  they  were  wrought  by  magic,  or  by  the  power 
attendant  upon  a  certain  use  of  the  name  Jehovah,  called 
tetragrammaton,  which,  they  pretend,  Jesus  stole  out  of  the 
temple.§  But  we  have  positive  testimony  also  from  Hea- 
thens. Celsus,  who  wrote  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century,  not  only  allows  the  principal  facts  of  the  gospel 
history,  but  acknowledges  that  Christ  wrought  miracles,  by 
which  he  engaged  great  multitudes  to  adhere  to  him  as  the 
Messiah.  That  these  miracles  were  really  performed,  so  far 
from  denying,  he  tries  to  account  for  by  ascribing  them  to 
magic,  which  (he  says)  Christ  learned  in  Egypt.  || 


*  Acts,  ii.  22.  -f  John,  xi.  47.  t  Acts,  iv.  16. 

§  Quod  Christus  per  hoc  nomen  quoque  miracula  sua  ediderit,  probavit  ante 
multos  annos  Purchetus.  Ejus  tamen  fabulse  illustrandse  causa,  hoc  addo, 
quod  apud  Talmudicus  reperi.  Ut  Christus  in  ea  historia  refertur  descriptum 
Shemhamphorasch  (id  est,  nomen  expositum,  quod  est  ipsum  nomen  rnrr>),  in- 
clusisse  in  discissam  cutem  pcdis,  et  ex  templo  eduxisse,  ut  sic  per  ejus  vim 
miracula  postmodum  ediderit.  Buxto^f 

II  Lurdner,  iv.  120— 130. 


176  LECTURF    VI. 

Hierocles,  president  of  Bythinia,  and  a  persecutor  of  Chris- 
tians, in  a  work  written  against  Christianity,  does  not  deny 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  but  compares  them  with  those  which 
he  pretended  had  been  wrought  a  long  time  before,  by  on* 
Apollonius,  of  Tyanea,  a  heathen,  complaining  at  the 
same  time  that  Christians  made  so  much  ado  about  the 
works  of  Jesus,  as  to  worship  him  for  God.* 

Julian,  the  emperor,  in  the  fourth  century,  acknowledges 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  contents  himself  with  trying  to 
depreciate  their  importance.  "  Jesus,"  he  says,  "did  nothing 
worthy  of  fame,  unless  any  one  can  suppose  that  curing  the 
lame  and  the  blind,  and  exorcising  demons  in  the  villages  ol 
Bethsaida,  are  some  of  the  greatest  works."  He  acknow- 
ledges that  Jesus  had  a  sovereign  power  over  impure  spirits 
and  that  he  walked  on  the  surface  of  the  deep.t  Now,  it 
is  a  matter  of  no  little  wonder,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  that  in 
this  nineteenth  century,  men  should  be  so  sagacious  as  t< 
discover  that  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  not  attest  then 
claims  and  doctrines  with  miraculous  powers,  when  learned 
sagacious,  and  sufficiently  hostile  unbelievers  of  the  earliest 
centuries  of  Christianity,  having  opportunities  for  discovering 
the  state  of  the  case  such  as  they  cannot  pretend  to,  wert 
constrained  to  acknowledge  precisely  the  contrary.  I  marve 
that  Celsus,  and  Porphyry,  and  Hierocles,  and  Julian,  anc 
the  Scribes,  and  Pharisees,  can  rest  in  their  graves,  whei 
such  reflections  are  cast  upon  the  zeal  and  talents  with  whicl 
they  searched  for  imposture  in  the  works  of  Christ. 

XIV.  But  we  have  even  better  testimony  than  that  ol 
enemies.  Had  Celsus  found  himself  not  only  unable  to  den} 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  but  persuaded,  by  the  mere  force  o 
their  truth,  to  renounce  heathenism,  and  consecrate  his  life 
in  the  face  of  persecution  and  death,  to  the  service  of  the 
gospel,  would  not  his  testimony  have  been  greatly  increasec 

»  Lardner,  iv.  354.         t  Lardner,  vol.  iv.  332—342. 


LECTURE   VI. 


177 


in  importance  ?  Would  not  the  very  fact  of  his  becoming  a 
Christian,  under  the  power  of  evidence,  be  the  consideration 
which,  instead  of  injuring  his  testimony  as  that  of  a  friend 
would  have  given  it  peculiar  force  as  that  of  a  friend  who 
was  once  an  enemy  ?  Then  if  I  find  cases  precisely  cor 
responding  with  this — if  I  present  you  with  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  such  cases,  and  tens  of  thousands — will  yon 
not  own  that  their  positive  testimony  is  far  stronger  than 
even  that  of  the  adversaries  whom  we  have  cited,  and  the 
strongest  of  which  in  the  nature  of  things  we  could  be  pos 
sessed  ?  I  find  precisely  such  cases  in  the  apostles  of  Christ 
They  are  regarded  as  interested  witnesses,  because  they 
were  friends.  But  what  made  them  friends  ?  Were  they 
not  men  like  others  ?  Jews,  like  others  ?  Consider  Paul, 
once  a  fierce  persecutor  of  Christians  !  What  made  him  a 
friend  ?  Consider  the  three  thousand,  converted  from  bitter, 
persecuting  Judaism  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  What  made  friends  and  disciples  of  them? 
Was  it  that  they  expected  any  earthly  honours  or  gains  from 
taking  up  the  cross  of  a  crucified  Master,  in  whose  wonder- 
ful works  they  did  not  believe  ?  Was  it  that  they  coveted 
reproach,  enjoyed  suffering,  and  loved  death  ?  or  because,  by 
careful  consideration,  they  were  so  convinced  that  the  mira 
cles  of  Christ,  especially  that  of  his  rising  from  the  dead, 
were  true,  that  no  certainty  of  persecution,  no  sacrifices  o/ 
property,  character,  friends,  or  life,  were  sufficient  to  prevent 
them  from  confessing  him  before  men  ?  To  these  add  the 
hundreds  of  thousands,  who,  during  the  ministry  of  the 
apostles,  from  having  been  Jews  or  Heathens,  and  ene 
mies  of  the  gospel,  became  its  devoted  followers  and  heroic 
confessors.  They  bore  witness,  by  word  and  deed,  in 
torture  and  death,  to  the  great  fact  that  the  miracles  of 
Christ  were, true.  And  what  is  their  testimony  worth'2 
What  possible  motive  can  you  assign  for  the  total  change 
which  took  place  in  all  their  habits,  attachments,  manners, 

15 


178  LECTURE  VI. 

and  affections,  when  they  became  Christians,  other  than  that 
of  deep,  solemn  conviction  ?  To  suppose  they  were  not  con- 
vinced, is  to  suppose  that  they  made  the  most  tremendous 
sacrifices,  not  only  without  motive,  but  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  most  powerful  motives  of  the  human  breast.  They 
well  knew  the  poverty,  and  persecution,  and  martyrdom,  to 
which  they  exposed  themselves.  Why,  then,  did  they  become 
Christians  ?  When  afterwards  pursued  as  the  off-scouring 
of  all  things,  and  pests  of  the  world ;  when  no  name  was  so 
odious  as  that  of  Christian ;  when  to  bring  those  who  bore 
it  to  torture  was  universally  accounted  meritorious ;  when  it 
was  the  study  of  magistrates  and  soldiers  to  invent  new 
modes  of  tormenting  them ;  when  thousands  of  all  ranks 
and  ages  were  daily  slain  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  who, 
by  the  act  of  a  moment,  could  have  stilled  the  storm  to  perfect 
peace ;  why  did  they  persist  and  die  ?  To  pretend  to  explain 
their  steadfastness,  except  on  the  supposition  bf  their  having 
firmly  believed  what  they  professed,  were  perfectly  absurd. 
But  did  they  not  know  1  Living  in  the  same  age  with  the 
apostles ;  living  in  the  very  places  where  the  miracles  were 
performed ;  they,  if  any  on  earth,  must  have  possessed  the 
opportunity  of  discovering  the  truth  with  regard  to  them. 
We  have,  then,  the  impressive  fact  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel,  in  the  first  century  of 
Christianity,  Jews,  and  Greeks,  and  Romans,  many  of  whom 
had  been  persecutors  of  Christians,  bearing  the  most  positive 
testimony  to,  what  they  had  every  opportunity  of  investiga- 
ting, the  reality  of  the  miracles  of  Christ ;  and  sealing  their 
testimony  in  the  renouncing  of  all  that  was  dear  to  them  by 
birth,  habit,  or  education,  and  embracing  Christianity  at  the 
expense  of  the  keenest  reproach  and  the  most  painful  death. 
Testimony  stronger  or  more  undeniable  than  this,  I  cannot 
imagine.  If  this  be  not  sufficient  to  prove  a  plain  matter  of 
fact,  such  for  example  as  that  Lazarus  was  seen  alive  after 
he  was  known  to  have  been  dead ;  then  farewell  all  history 


LECTURE    VI.  179 

and  all  knowledge.  Nothing  can  be  reasonably  believed, 
except  on  evidence  of  sense,  and  hardly  then,  after  reject- 
ing this. 

We  have  now  arrayed  as  many  of  the  materials  of  the 
argument  for  the  gospel  miracles  as  our  time  would  permit. 
It  only  remains  that  we  put  them  together  into  one  view,  so 
as  to  enable  you  to  appreciate  their  united  strength.  I  know 
not  how  to  do  this  in  a  better  way,  than  to  take  the  supposi- 
tion that  all  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles  were 
Actions,  and  consequently  their  authors,  deliberate  deceivers ; 
and  then  consider  how  far  the  supposition  will  carry  us. 
Let  us  do  so.  You  understand  the  supposition.  What  must 
be  believed  by  those  who  will  maintain  it  ? 

They  must  believe  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  being 
obscure,  unlettered  Jews,  without  a  single  circumstance  to 
give  them  influence,  were  so  perfectly  silly  and  mad  as  to 
flatter  themselves  that  they  could  set  up  a  scheme  of  religion, 
which,  though  in  utter  contradiction  to  the  habits,  passions, 
prejudices,  and  institutions,  of  all  the  world,  should  succeed 
in  overturning  tb.3  religious  systems  and  institutions  of  the 
most  enlightened  nations ;  and  yet  that,  with  this  unacounta- 
ble  infatuation,  they  were  so  singularly  wise,  as  to  maintain, 
throughout  all  the  miracles  which  they  professed  to  work  in 
proof  of  their  system,  the  most  perfect  consistency  with  the 
dignity  and  disinterestedness  of  the  office  they  assumed,  and 
with  the  majesty,  holiness,  and  goodness  of  that  God  in 
whose  name  they  professed  to  come. 

They  must  believe  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  so 
wicked,  as  to  attempt  an  imposture  which  involved  not  only 
continual  dishonesty,  but  downright  blasphemy,  and  this 
from  motives  of  mere  ambition  or  avarice ;  and  yet  that 
during  the  space  of  seventy  years  they  kept  up  such  an 
invariable  show  of  eminent  goodness  and  disinterestedness, 
as  in  all  their  works  to  manifest  not  the  smallest  appearance 
of  selfishness  or  any  evil  design ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 


ISO  LECTURE  VI. 

utmost  evidence  of  self-denial,  of  self-humiliation,  of  purity, 
of  holiness,  of  the  tenderest  compassion,  and  the  most  labori- 
ous benevolence ;  so  that  even  their  enemies  never  brought 
inconsistency  to  their  charge. 

They  must  believe  the  apostles  to  have  been  so  strangely 
in  love,  either  with  wealth,  or  honour,  or  power,  or  some- 
thing else,  to  be  willing,  even  out  of  their  obscurity  and 
weakness,  as  to  seek  it  by  such  a  desperate  scheme  as  that 
of  Christianity ;  and  yet  that,  when  honours  were  offered, 
they  earnestly  refused  them ;  when  they  saw  the  triumph  of 
their  enemies  in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  and  that  nothing 
awaited  his  followers  but  disgrace,  poverty,  and  persecution, 
they  persisted  in  advocating  the  cause  of  their  fallen  leader ; 
and  when  the  storms  of  persecution  grew  darker  and  darker, 
and  ruin  and  death  were  the  certain  consequences  of  perse- 
verance, and  one  word  of  confession  would  have  saved  them, 
such  was  their  infatuated  attachment  to  this  scheme  of  im- 
posture, such  their  singular  devotion  to  self,  to  honour,  or 
wealth,  or  power,  or  something  else,  that  they  drove  on  from 
suffering  to  suffering,  from  shame  to  shame,  ending  at  last 
their  pursuit  in  a  bitter  death,  with  the  full  belief,  as  Jews, 
that  in  eternity  they  should  be  condemned  to  an  awful  retri- 
bution for  their  whole  career. 

They  must  believe  that  while  the  apostles  were  so  utterly 
destitute  of  common  ingenuity  that  they  selected  precisely 
that  kind  of  credential  which  it  was  the  most  difficult  to 
forge,  and  instead  of  seeking,  as  other  impostors  would  have 
done,  private,  or  confined,  or  solitary  places,  for  their  mira- 
cles, chose  those  of  the  greatest  resort  and  publicity,  and  then 
placed  and  left  their  miracles  directly  under  the  senses  of  the 
multitude;  that  while  they  had  so  little  contrivance  that 
instead  of  selecting  a  few  masked  friends,  or  the  most  igno- 
rant of  the  populace  for  witnesses,  they  seemed  rather  to 
prefer  having  hardly  any  witnesses  but  enemies,  and  those 
frequently  of  the  highest,  most  literate,  and  powerful  classes; 


LECTURE   VI.  181 

that  while  so  utterly  wanting  in  the  common  cunning  of 
impostors,  that  instead  of  keeping  their  doings  to  one  or  a 
few  places,  they  performed  them  any  where,  upon  any  sub- 
jects, however  suddenly  or  confusedly  presented,  and,  instead 
of  ceasing  when  they  had  done  a  few  with  success,  continued 
the  hazard  for  many  years,  in  innumerable  instances,  and 
while  they  were  widely  separated  from  one  another  ;  I  say 
it  must  be  believed,  that  Christ  and  his  apostles,  with  all 
these  evidences  of  extraordinary  idiocy  or  lunacy,  were  yet 
so  wonderfully  ingenious,  wary,  and  wise  ;  so  singularly 
skilled  in  imposture ;  so  learned  in  human  nature  and  the 
world ;  such  a  marvellous  match  for  the  combined  efforts  of 
the  wise,  and  mighty,  and  diligent,  of  Judea,  and  Greece, 
and  Rome  ;  laid  their  plans  so  deeply ;  concerted  their  move 
ments  so  skilfully  ;  kept  their  secrets  so  closely  ;  carried  on 
the  whole  complicated  plot  for  many  years  so  consistently,  that 
though  ever  watched  while  together  and  while  separated;  con- 
tinually scrutinized  by  all  sorts  of  witnesses  and  of  enemies ; 
none  could  ever  detect  the  least  flaw  in  their  pretensions  ; 
none  could  discover  that  the  blind  did  not  see ;  the  lame  did 
not  walk  ;  the  dead  did  not  rise.  On  the  contrary,  the  peo- 
ple of  Bethany  were  so  deceived  as  actually  to  believe  that 
they  daily  saw  one  of  their  townsmen,  whom  they  knew  to 
have  died,  living  and  eating  among  them.  The  people  of 
Jerusalem  were  so  deceived  as  to  believe,  that  they  saw  a 
man  whom  they  knew  to  have  been  lame  from  his  birth, 
daily  walking  among  them  perfectly  well.  The  five  thousand 
were  fully  persuaded  that  they  did  all  eat  and  were  filled  with 
a  few  loaves  and  fishes.  The  people  of  Syria  were  so 
tricked  as  really  to  believe  that  their  multitudes  of  sick  with 
divers  diseases  and  torments,  whom  they  had  brought  to 
Jesus,  went  home  with  them  perfectly  well,  without  an  ex- 
ception. Yea,  the  whole  Jewish  and  Heathen  world  was  so 
imposed  upon  by  these  unlettered,  simple,  despised,  persecu- 
ted Jews,  as  tacitly  to  confess  the  genuineness  of  their  mira- 

15* 


182 


LECTURE  VI. 


cles.  Philosophers  and  rabbles,  when  they  attacked  chris* 
tianity,  did  not  deny  it ;  several  of  them  positively,  in  their 
books,  acknowledged  it ;  and  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the 
age  of  the  apostles,  out  of  the  most  polished  cities  and  most 
respectable  classes,  were  so  entirely  taken  captive  and  spell- 
bound by  the  magic  scheme  of  these  weak  men,  that  they 
forsook  all  and  took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  and 
yielded  themselves  to  fire  and  sword  and  wild  beasts,  rather 
than  not  confess  and  follow  Christ. 

Such  are  the  wonderful  things ;  such  the  violations  of  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  common  sense ;  such  the  wicked  and 
contradictory  miracles  which  necessarily  follow  as  true,  as 
soon  as  the  miracles  of  Christianity  are  rejected  as  false. 
Now,  tell  me  on  which  side  the  charge  of  credulity  lies  with 
the  greatest  weight.  Now,  give  the  reason  why  our  modern 
unbelievers,  instead  of  meeting  the  testimony  of  the  gospel 
miracles  in  front,  are  so  conscientiously  scrupulous  never  to 
know  any  thing  about  it,  and  always  expend  their  ingenuity 
in  ridiculing  the  dignity,  or  in  picking  out  what  they  would 
represent  as  inconsistencies  in  the  books,  of  scripture.  Now 
explain  the  singular  phenomenon  that  the  grand  high-priest. 
of  modern  infidelity  should  havo  invented  the  convenient 
principle  which  sceptical  philosophy  had  ever  before  so 
painfully  sighed  after,  that  no  testimony  can  prove  a  miracle. 
Ah !  yes.  It  was  his  only  hope.  The  testimony  of  the 
Christian  miracles  is  perfect.  It  is  so  overwhleming,  that  if 
there  be  any  difficulty  about  them,  it  arises  from  the  very 
brightness  of  their  evidence  itself.  It  is  almost  inconceiva- 

O 

ble  that  such  works,  wrought  so  publicly  and  frequently,  and 
with  such  incontrovertible  marks  of  a  divine  hand,  should 
not  have  made  more  converts ;  that  all  who  beheld  them  did 
not  yield  at  once  to  the  great  Teacher  whom  they  attested, 
and  espouse  his  cause.  But  the  explanation  is  not  difficult. 
The  human  heart  is  depraved  enough  for  the  most  desperate 
rejection  of  such  a  master  as  the  Lord  Jesus.  Men  will  go 


LECTURE  VI.  183 

to  the  greatest  lengths  of  folly  and  unbelief  to  gratify  their 
passions,  foster  their  pride,  retain  their  prejudices,  and  escape 
the  necessity  of  making  sacrifices  for  conscience's  sake.  The 
truth  that  so  many  Jews  and  Heathens,  with  this  blaze  of 
testimony  before  them,  did  not  submit  to  the  gospel,  is  not  so 
astonishing  as  what  is  seen  every  day  among  ourselves : 
persons  believing  the  New  Testament,  and  that  Christ  is  the 
only  Saviour  of  sinners — that  eternal  blessedness  awaits 
those  who  follow  him,  and  eternal  wo  those  who  neglect  his 
salvation — and  yet,  for  all  practical  ends,  as  unmoved  by 
these  truths  as  if  they  were  fables — as  little  engaged  in  the 
service  of  Christ  as  if  they  had  never  heard  his  name. 

But  we  must  conclude.  I  trust  you  will  henceforth  allow 
me  to  consider  the  miracles  of  the  gospel  as  proved  to  be 
genuine.  If  so,  we  must  consider  the  credentials  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  as  acknowledged.  They  were  therefore 
what  they  professed  to  be,  divinely  commissioned  and  in- 
spired teachers.  God  was  with  them.  What  they  published 
as  a  revelation  from  God,  we  are  consequently  bound  to 
receive  as  a  revelation  from  God.  That  publication  is  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament.  We  have  already  ascertained 
the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  New  Testament  as 
containing  it.  We  cease,  therefore,  this  evening,  with  the 
conclusion  that  the  religion  published  in  the  New  Testament 
is  a  revelation  from  God. 

May  the  greatest  and  best  of  all  the  works  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
be  wrought  in  all  of  us ;  even  the  blessed  work  of  his  grace, 
awakening  the  sinner  from  spiritual  death ;  changing,  exalt- 
ing, purifying  all  the  affections  of  his  depraved  nature ;  open- 
ing the  eyes  of  his  understanding  to  behold  the  glory  of  God ; 
leading  him,  in  repentance  and  faith,  to  the  cross  for  pardon 
and  peace  ;  shedding  abroad  in  his  heart  the  spirit  of  divine 
love ;  and  causing  him  to  rejoice  in  the  blessed  assurance 
of  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away  ! 


184  LECTURE  VII. 


LECTURE    VII. 

PROPHECY. 

HAVING  shown  the  genuineness  of  the  miracles  recorded 
in  the  New  Testament,  in  attestation  of  the  divine  mission 
of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles ;  we  are  now  to  take  up  the 
subject  of  prophecy.  But  while  proceeding  to  this  additional 
source  of  evidence,  it  is  important  to  be  observed,  that  we 
do  so,  not  because  we  consider  the  reasoning  in  proof  of 
Christianity,  as  a  divine  revelation,  to  which  you  have 
already  listened,  in  any  sense  incomplete.  Had  our  course 
of  lectures  been  terminated  with  the  last,  the  argument 
would  have  been  brought  to  an  incontrovertible  issue.  Hav- 
ing made  out  the  great  point  that  genuine  miracles  were 
wrought  by  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles,  in  attestation  of 
the  divine  authority  of  what  they  did  and  taught ;  we  have 
established,  by  necessary  consequence,  the  great  truth  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  teacher  come  from  God,  and  that  the 
New  Testament,  as  an  authentic  publication  of  the  religion 
taught  by  him,  is  to  be  received  as  containing  a  divine  reve- 
lation of  truth  and  duty.  One  line  of  evidence,  therefore — 
one  road  leading  to  the  scriptures,  as  the  great  central 
fountain  of  divine  truth,  we  have  travelled  over ;  and  it  has 
set  us  down  beside  the  water  of  life.  Now,  if  this  were  the 
only  road,  it  would  be  amply  sufficient.  The  loftiest  intel- 
lect need  not  be  ashamed ;  the  weakest  need  not  fear  to  walk 
therein.*  But  God  has  not  only  furnished  us  with  the 
plainest,  but  with  the  most  various  and  abundant  evidence. 


*  A  celebrated  infidel   once   acknowledged  that  even  atheism  would  bo 
refuted  by  die  proof  of  a  single  miracle  of  the  gospel.     Spinoza  declared  that 


LECTURE  VII.  Ib5 

And  since  the  object  of  these  lectures  is  not  only  to  prove 
the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel,  but  also  to  give  you  an 
idea  of  the  diversified  character  of  the  many  ways  by  which 
the  proof  may  be  established;  we  propose  now  to  return 
from  the  position  we  have  reached  by  the  argument  of  our 
last  lecture,  and  endeavour  to  arrive  at  it  again  by  a  route 
entirely  different.  We  take  up  the  prophecies,  recorded  in 
the  scriptures,  and  shall  endeavour  to  produce  from  them 
satisfactory  and  impressive  evidence  that  in  the  Bible  we 
have  divine  inspiration,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  a  teacher  sent 
of  God. 

What  is  a  prophecy,  according  to  the  sense  of  scripture, 
and  as  we  are  now  about  to  consider  it  ?  It  is  a  declaration 
of  future  events,  such  as  no  human  wisdom  or  forecast  is 
sufficient  to  make ;  depending  on  a  knowledge  of  the  innu- 
merable contingencies  of  human  affairs,  which  belongs 
exclusively  to  the  omniscience  of  God;  so  that,  from  its 
very  nature,  prophecy  must  be  divine  revelation.  "  The 
•prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man ;  but  holy 
men  of'  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost" 
A  prophecy,  considered  in  itself,  separately  from  its  fulfil 
ment,  is  no  evidence  of  revelation.  But  as  soon  as  fulfilled, 
it  is  complete.  The  hand  of  God  in  it,  is  then  attested. 
The  evidence  that  the  person  by  whom  it  was  uttered  was 
under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  divine  omniscience,  is 
finished.  Then  prophecy  takes  the  place  of  miracle,  and 
becomes  at  once  the  highest  and  most  unquestionable  proof, 
not  only  that  the  individual  who  declared  it  was  the  agent 
of  communicating,  in  that  particular,  a  divine  revelation  ; 
but  also  that  a  divine  sanction  is  impressed  upon  that  whole 

he  \vould  have  broken  his  atheistic  system  to  pieces,  and  embraced  without 
repugnance  the  ordinary  faith  of  Christiansxcould  he  have  been  persuaded 
of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead !  Was  it  not  a  foresight  of  the 
arguments  that  would  necessarily  result  from  the  proof  of  this  miracle  that 
prevented  him  from  being  persuaded  of  its  truth  1 


186  LECTURE    VII. 

system  of  religion  with  which  his  prophecies  may  be  con- 
nected.* "  Future  contingencies,  such,  for  example,  as  those 
which  relate  to  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  and  states  not  yet 
in  existence,  or  to  the  minute  concerns  of  individuals  not  yet 
born,  are  secrets  which  it  is  evident  no  man  or  angel  can 
penetrate,  their  causes  being  indeterminate,  their  relations 
with  other  things  fluctuating  and  unknown.  It  follows. 
therefore,  that  the  prediction  of  such  contingent  events 
cannot  otherwise  than  proceed  from  God ;  and  farther,  since 
God  cannot  without  a  violation  of  His  perfect  holiness  and 
rectitude,  visibly  aid  delusion  and  wickedness,  the  inference 
is  equally  cogent  and  necessary,  that  the  accomplishment 
of  predictions  delivered  by  those  who  profess  divine  authority 
amounts  to  a  full  proof  that  they  really  possess  the  authority 
they  assume.  Other  arguments  may  be  evaded;  other  evi- 
dence may  not  convince.  Strange  effects  (though  not 
miraculous  ones)  may  be  produced  by  other  than  divine 
power."!  But  this  can  only  be  evaded  by  refusing  to  behold 
it,  and  only  counterfeited  by  him  who  is  ingenious  enough 
to  borrow  omniscience  in  aid  of  imposture.  "  To  declare  a 
thing  shall  come  to  be,  long  before  it  is  in  being  (says  Justin 
Martyr);  and  then  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of 
that  very  thing,  according  to  the  same  declaration  ;  this,  or 
nothing,  is  the  work  of  God." 

There  are  considerations  connected  with  this  particular 
source  of  evidence,  which  render  it  specially  interesting  and 
valuable. 

Prophecy  furnishes  an  argument,  the  force  of  which  is 
continually  growing.  The  argument  began,  when  first  a 
single  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  It  increased  more  and  more, 
as  predictions  and  fulfilments  multiplied.  In  the  age  of  the 


*  "  All  prophecies  (says  Hume)  are  real  miracles,  and  as  such  only,  can 
be  admitted  as  proofs  of  any  revelation." — Philosophical  Essays. 
t  Gregory's  Letters. 


LECTURE    VII.  187 

apostles,  it  was  a  powerful,  as  well  as  favourite  weapon  in 
proof  of  the  gospel.  But  during  that  period,  many  new  pre- 
dictions were  published,  and  many  ancient  ones  remained  to 
be  accomplished.  The  argument,  consequently,  was  not  yet 
at  its  height.  It  has  been  growing  ever  since,  as  one  century 
after  another  has  rolled  out  an  additional  fulfilment,  or 
completed  and  enlarged  those  already  advanced.  We,  in 
the  present  age,  enjoy  an  expanse,  and  variety,  and  complete- 
ness of  prophetic  evidence  far  exceeding  those  which  the 
chart  of  history  presented  to  St.  Paul.  There  is  to  us,  a. 
voice  from  the  silent  solitudes  where  Babylon  and  Tyre  once 
stood  in  pride,  and  reigned  in  power;  from  the  modern  his- 
tory of  the  prostrate  Egypt ;  from  the  wonderful  annals  and 
present  condition  of  the  Jewish  race  ;  from  the  desolate  state 
of  the  holy  land  and  adjoining  countries ;  from  the  rise  and 
present  aspect  of  the  mystic  Babylon — which  the  primitive 
Christians  had  not  the  privilege  of  hearing.  The  force  of 
this  argument  is  yet  to  grow  continually.  A  few  years 
hence,  in  all  probability,  will  exhibit  it  invested  with  a  bright- 
ness and  glory,  compared  with  which,  all  present  evidence 
will  seem  but  as  morning  twilight.  The  end  of  the  world 
will  be  its  full  maturity.  Prophecy  having  begun  with  the 
history  of  sin,  extends  to  the  completion  of  its  tragedy  ;  and 
not  till  the  blazing  of  the  great  conflagration  when  "  the 
earth  and  all  that  is  therein  shall  be  burned  up,"  will  its 
every  prediction  be  fulfilled ;  or  the  fulness  of  glory  with 
which  it  was  designed  to  show  the  truth  of  God  in  the  gospel 
of  his  Son,  be  made  to  appear. 

Now  it  is  this  continual  growing  of  prophetic  evidence 
that  makes  it  so  peculiarly  valuable.  The  argument  derived 
from  miracles,  though  it  could  never  have  been  more  con- 
clusive than  it  is  to  us,  was  certainly  more  impressive  to 
those  who  saw  the  miracles,  or  who  lived  in  the  age  in 
which  they  were  wrought.  And  it  is  very  difficult  for  most 
persons  to  distinguish  between  the  conclusiveness  and  the 


1S8 


LECTURE    VII. 


irnpressiveness  of  evidence.  Because  the  lapse  of  centuries, 
by  removing  the  Christian  miracles  far  from  us,  has  dimin- 
ished the  sensible  effect  they  would  otherwise  have  had 
upon  our  minds,  it  is  very  generally  supposed  that  the  same 
cause  has  enfeebled  the  evidence  on  which  their  genuineness 
is  maintained.  This  idea,  though  unfounded  entirely,  is 
too  natural,  to  those  who  do  not  think  deeply,  to  be  easily 
removed.  But  with  regard  to  the  evidence  arising  from 
prophecy,  it  cannot  exist.  Predictions,  now  in  progress 
of  fulfilment,  are  miracles  which  centuries  can  only  render 
more  certain  and  impressive.  If  there  was  a  peculiar  pri- 
vilege conferred  on  those  who  saw,  in  the  miracles  of  Christ, 
manifest  to  sense,  the  wonderful  works  of  God's  omnipo- 
tence ;  there  is  also  a  similar  privilege  conferred  on  us,  who, 
in  consequence  of  the  ever  increasing  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
may  see  in  the  scriptures,  more  brilliantly  illuminated  than 
ever,  the  hand-writing  of  God's  omniscience. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  in  much  of  the  evidence 
from  prophecy,  which  renders  it  peculiarly  valuable.  It  is 
evidence  before  our  eyes,  addressed  to  our  senses.  By 
this  we  do  not  mean  that  the  evidence  arising  from  the 
miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  would  be  any  more 
conclusive,  however  much  it  would  be  increased  in  its 
impression  on  our  minds,  did  we  behold  the  miracles,  instead 
of  reading  of  them  in  well  attested  history.  We  believe,  on 
the  contrary,  that  this  description  of  evidence,  as  addressed 
to  us,  is  perfect.  But  still  there  is,  and  perhaps  ever  will  be. 
a  class  of  minds  that,  like  the  disciple  Thomas,  will  requirr 
to  see  before  they  will  believe.  Either  their  indifference  c  r 
sluggishness  prevents  them  frcm  pursuing  a  line  of  argM- 
ment  that  would  carry  them  back  amidst  the  testimonies  of 
antiquity;  or  else  their  willing  scepticism,  by  ingeni3i;< 
sophistry,  would  shield  them  from  all  the  evidence  derived 
from  miraculous  agency,  by  the  assumption  that  no  testimony 
caix  prove  a  miracle.  The  utter  fallacy  of  this  position,  we 


LECTURE    VII.  189 

trust,  was  satisfactorily  shown  in  a  preceding  lecture.  But 
here  are  evidences  with  which,  were  it  true,  it  cou^d  have 
no  connexion.  God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy,  has 
provided  for  all  classes  of  mind,  and  all  descriptions  of  infideli- 
ty:  so  that  all  unbelievers  may  be  without  excuse.  The  argu- 
ment from  prophecy  may  be  rendered  brief  enough  for  the 
most  sluggish — tangible  enough  for  the  most  obstinate  oppo- 
sers  of  historical  testimony.  They  have  only  to  read  in  the 
Bible  the  predictions  with  regard  to  the  once  proud  cities  of 
Babylon  and  Tyre,  or  the  once  powerful  empire  of  Egypt,  and 
then  to  open  their  ears  to  the  accounts  which  almost  every 
wind  conveys,  or  go  and  see  for  themselves  the  obscure  rem- 
nants of  the  ruins  of  those  cities,  and  of  that  once  mighty 
empire  ;  they  have  only  to  read  in  the  books  of  Moses,  what, 
3300  years  ago,  was  foretold  of  the  history  of  the  Jewish 
people ;  and  then  to  lift  up  their  eyes,  and  behold  the  present 
condition  and  the  notorious  peculiarities  of  that  wonderful 
race;  to  see  that  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible  have  been 
plainly  and  most  particularly  fulfilled — fulfilled  in  a  manner 
which  no  human  sagacity  could  have  foreseen,  which  no 
human  power  could  have  brought  to  pass ;  and  consequently 
that  the  authors  of  those  prophecies  were  inspired,  men,  and 
the  religion  they  taught  was  the  word  of  God.  In  these  and 
various  other  examples,  which  might  be  adduced,  of  the 
present  and  visible  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  the  miracles  of 
the  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations  are  in  fact  continued 
among  us.  "  Men  are  sometimes  disposed  to  think  that  if 
they  could  see  a  miracle  wrought  in  their  own  sight,  they 
would  believe  the  gospel  without  delay,  and  obey  it  unre- 
servedly. They  know  not  their  own  hearts.  '  If  they  believe 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  would  they  believe 
though  one  rose  from  the  dead.'  But  in  the  whole  range  oi 
prophecy  now  fulfilling  before  their  eyes,  they  have  in  fact  a 
series  of  divine  interpositions,  not  precisely  of  the  nature  oi 
miracles,  in  the  sense  of  brief,  and  instant,  and  visible  sus 
16 


190 


LECTURE  VII. 


pensions  of  the  laws  of  nature,  but  evidently  so  in  the  sense 
of  supernatural  interference,  in  the  rise  and  fall  of  cities,  and 
nations,  and  empires;  in  the  arrangement  of  times  and  circum- 
stances ;  in  that  wonderful  display  of  infinite  foreknowledge 
and  infinite  power,  apparent  in  the  control  of  the  wills  of  un- 
numbered free  and  accountable  agents  to  a  certain  result."* 
In  our  last  lecture  we  stated  that  the  religion  of  the  Bible 
is  the  only  one  which,  on  its  first  introduction,  appealed  to 
miracles  in  evidence  of  the  divine  authority  of  its  teach- 
ers. We  make  a  similar  remark,  with  still  more  evident 
truth,  with  regard  to  prophecy.  The  sublime  appeal  of  men, 
professing  to  be  commissioned  of  God,  to  the  events  of 
thousands  of  years  thereafter,  as  witnesses  of  their  truth  ; 
the  moral  grandeur  of  that  appeal,  which,  after  having 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  nations,  a  prediction  of  minute 
transactions,  which  the  innumerable  contingencies  of  a 
long  retinue  of  centuries  are  to  bring  out,  stakes  its  whole 
cause  upon  a  perfect  fulfilment,  thus  resting  itself  singly 
upon  the  omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  God,  and  separa- 
ting to  an  infinite  distance  all  possibility  of  human  support ; 
this  is  a  dignity  to  which  nothing  but  the  inspiration  of  the 
scriptures  can  pretend;  a  noble  daring  on  which  nothing 
else  was  ever  known  to  venture.  The  corruptions  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  existing  in  the  church  of  Rome,  have  attempted 
to  prop  up  their  feeble  foundations  on  the  credit  of  miracles, 
easily  refuted  indeed,  but  widely  boasted  of.  But  prophecy, 
even  the  effrontery  of  that  "  man  of  sin,"  "  whose  coming 
(saith  St.  Paul)  is  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteous- 
ness," has  never  pretended  to.  Although  Mohammed  did 
not  profess  to  support  his  pretensions  by  miracles,  and  the 
Koran  expressly  concedes  that  miraculous  power  was  not 
given  him ;  yet  his  followers,  hundreds  of  years  after  his 
death,  related  many  miracles  as  having  been  performed 

*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


LECTURE    VII.  191 

under  his  hand.  But  that  Mohammed,  though  styled  the 
prophet  of  God,  never  declared  a  prophecy,  on  the  fulfilment 
of  which  he  rested  his  claims  to  inspirations,  none  ever 
asserted. 

The  history  of  pagan  nations,  indeed,  abounds  with  stories 
of  auguries,  and  oracles,  and  detached  predictions ;  but  it 
was  with  no  reference  to  the  establishment  of  paganism  that 
they  were  uttered.  On  the  contrary,  the  fact  that  paganism 
was  established  already  gave  them  all  their  reverence.  But 
what  an  immeasurable  distance  separates  all  the  pretended 
oracles  of  paganism,  from  the  dignity  of  the  prophecies  in 
the  Bible.  The  avowed  end  of  the  former  was  to  satisfy 
some  trivial  curiosity,  or  aid  the  designs  of  some  military  or 
political  leader.  The  influence  of  intimidation  or  of  bribery 
produced  them.  They  were  never  spontaneous.  The  ora- 
cles were  careful  to  take  advantage  of  the  security  of  silence, 
until  obliged  to  speak  in  answer  to  a  direct  appeal.  Then 
they  never  uttered  a  syllable  without  getting  time  for  prepa- 
ration. Inquiries  were  rendered  as  difficult  and  as  expensive 
as  possible,  in  order,  not  only  to  enrich  the  oracles,  but  to 
diminish  the  occasions  of  exposure.  Every  inquiry  must  be 
attended  with  numerous  and  minute  ceremonies  on  the  part 
of  the  applicant,  as  well  as  the  prophet ;  in  order  that  omis- 
sions or  mismanagements  might  afford  frequent  excuses  for 
the  failure  of  the  response,  without  implicating  the  inspira- 
tion of  its  author.  The  god  was  not  always  in  a  humour  to 
be  consulted.  "  Either  he  was  talking,  or  he  was  pursuing., 
or  he  was  in  a  journey,  or  peradventure  he  was  sleeping. 
and  must  be  awakened."  This  afforded  a  very  convenient 
opportunity  of  putting  off  a  difficult  case.  "  Omens  were  to 
be  taken,  and  auguries  examined,  which,  if  unfavourable  in 
any  particular,  either  precluded  the  inquiry  for  the  present, 
or  required  further  lustrations,  ceremonies,  and  sacrifices,  to 
purify  the  person  who  had  consulted,  and  render  him  fit  to 
receive  an  answer  from  the  gods,  or  to  bring  their  wayward 


192  LECTURE  VII. 

deities  to  a  temper  suitable  to  the  inquiry."*  When  no  means 
of  evasion  remained,  the  answers  given  were  either  so  am- 
biguous as  to  suit  any  alternative,  or  so  obscure  as  to  require 
a  second  oracle  to  explain  them.  When  the  prediction  failed, 
there  was  no  want  of  subterfuges  by  which  to  maintain  the 
credit  of  the  oracle.  It  was  conveniently  discovered,  either 
that  the  gods  were  averse  to  the  inquirer,  or  that  he  had  not 
been  in  a  proper  state  for  the  consultation,  or  that  some  in- 
dispensable ceremony  had  been  omitted  or  mismanaged.  But 
all  these  precautions  and  artifices  were  not  sufficient  to  pre 
vent  those  oracles  from  falling  into  utter  contempt  with  the 
more  enlightened  heathens.!  Who  could  think  of  comparing 
such  pitiful  mockeries  of  divine  omniscience  with  the 
dignified,  and  sublime,  and  holy  prophecies  which  are  spread 
out  so  openly  and  widely  in  the  scriptures  1  To  point  out 
the  particulars  in  which  the  prophets  of  the  Bible  were  dis- 
tinguished above  all  the  oracles  of  the  Pagans,  were  to 
suppose  a  measure  of  ignorance  among  my  hearers,  as  to  the 
most  conspicuous  features  of  the  scriptures,  with  which  I 
cannot  believe  them  chargeable.  But  our  assertion  remains, 
and  deserves  to  be  repeated,  that  neither  in  the  rise,  nor  in 
the  progressive  advancement  of  any  religion,  but  that  of  the 
Bible,  have  prophecies  been  professed  or  appealed  to ;  in 
evidence  of  its  truth.  This  single  fact,  that  all  other  reli- 
gions have  shrunk  from  attempting  such  dangerous  ground ; 
that  notwithstanding  the  boldness  with  which  other  descrip- 
tions of  evidence  have  been  counterfeited  among  Pagans  and 
Mohammedans,  and  in  support  of  the  corruptions  of  popery, 
all  have  kept  aloof  from  this ;  and  yet  that  this  very  evidence, 
so  extremely  hazardous — so  certain  of  ultimate  exposure  in 
case  of  imposition — is  every  where  professed  in  the  Bible, 
and  forms  the  golden  chain  that  holds  all  its  parts  together, 


*  Nare's  View  of  Prophecy. 

t  Stillingfleet's  Orig.  Sacr<e,  1.  2,  c.  R,  p.  221. 


LECTURE   VII. 


193 


and  by  which  it  spans  the  world,  touching  at  once  its 
beginning  and  ending,  the  first  and  the  last;  this,  I  say, 
independently  of  the  question  of  fulfilment,  is  a  strong 
presumptive  argument  that  the  Bible  contains  something  of 
great  importance  which  no  other  religion  possessed ;  some- 
thing to  warrant  it  in  venturing  where  nothing  but  Divine 
Omniscience  is  able  to  tread ;  in  other  words,  that  its  writers 
were  holy  men,  who  "  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

The  overpowering  weight  of  the  evidence  from  prophecy, 
and  the  moral  grandeur  with  which  it  attests  the  inspiration 
of  God  and  the  Messiahship  of  Christ,  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated by  a  full  view  of  the  immense  scheme  and  the  vast 
extent  of  the  prophecies  in  the  Bible.  Their  record  occupies 
a  large  portion  of  the  scriptures.  In  the  third  chapter  of 
the  Bible,  it  begins ;  in  the  last,  it  ends.  Its  spirit  arose  with 
the  fall  of  man  in  Eden  ;  its  predictions  will  only  end  with 
his  perfect  recovery  in  heaven.  During  the  progress  of 
more  than  four  thousand  years,  the  scheme  of  prophecy  was 
continually  opening ;  its  predictions  were  continually  multi- 
plying; its  grand  object  and  purpose  were  continually 
becoming  more  distinct  and  luminous.  The  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy first  uttered  its  voice  when  as  yet  our  fallen  parents 
had  not  been  expelled  the  garden  of  innocence.  Cain  heard 
in  it  the  warning  of  his  punishment.  Enoch  continued  its 
declarations.  Noah  transmitted  its  strain.  Abraham's  whole 
life  was  guided  and  encouraged  by  its  inspirations.  Isaac 
was  the  child,  as  well  as  the  instrument  of  prophetic  com- 
munication. Jacob  with  his  last  breath  foretold  the  future 
history  of  his  twelve  sons  in  their  generations,  and  the  reign 
of  a  lawgiver  in  Judah  till  Shiloh  should  come.  The  harp 
of  prophecy  remained  in  silence,  while  the  posterity  of  Jacob 
remained  in  Egyptian  bondage;  but  no  sooner  was  Israel 
free,  than  the  Spirit  again  breathed  upon  its  strings,  and  in  tho 
hand  of  Moses  it  spake  of  the  great  Prophet  who  was  to  come 

16* 


194  LECTURE    VII. 

to  the  church,  and  sketched  the  Jewish  history,  with  wonder- 
ful minuteness,  down  even  to  the  present  and  far  future  times. 
Between  Moses  and  David,  lived  Samuel,  a  prophet  of  the 
Lord.  Immediately  after  him,  began  what  may  be  styled, 
with  emphatic  distinction,  "the  age  of  prophecy"  It  opened 
with  the  elevated  and  sublime  poetry  of  David.  It  advanced 
with  the  stem  ministry  of  honoured  Elijah.  As  he  went 
up  in  the  flaming  chariot,  translated  to  heaven,  his  mantle 
descended  upon  the  "man  of  God"  Elisha.  Among-  the 
minor  prophets  who  carried  on  the  spirit  of  this  age  of  seers. 
were  Hosea,  Amos,  and  Micah.  Then  followed  Isaiah,  as 
full  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  as  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy ; 
and  Jeremiah,  overflowing  as  well  with  tender  lamentation 
for  the  affliction  of  Israel,  as  with  the  sublimest  predictions 
of  the  days  when  the  Lord  would  heal  and  comfort  them ; 
then  Ezekiel,  with  as  many  visions  of  the  future,  as  the 
eyes  in  his  mysterious  wheels,  prophecying  "  in  the  midst  of 
the  valley  which  was  filled  with  bones."  Ezekiel  connected 
in  his  person  the  age  of  prophecy  with  that  of  the  captivity 
of  Judah.  Daniel  succeeded  him,  and  beside  the  prophetic 
interpretation  of  the  hand-writing  on  the  wall,  foretold  the 
succession  of  the  four  powerful  monarchies,  and  the  feeble 
rising  and  ultimate  dominion  of  the  fifth,  and  determined 
the  time  when  the  daily  sacrifice  would  cease,  and  Messiah 
be  cut  off — not  for  himself.  Haggai  and  Zechariah  contin- 
ued the  prophetic  strain,  after  the  return  of  Judah  from  cap- 
tivity. Malachi  terminated  the  line  of  Old  Testament 
prophets  and  the  canon  of  Old  Testament  scriptures,  with 
the  sublime  annunciation  of  one  who  was  to  come,  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Elijah,  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord. 
Again  the  harp  of  prophecy  was  silent  as  during  the  bond- 
age of  Egypt,  until  "that  Prophet"  like  unto,  but  infinitely 
greater  than,  Moses  arose.  JESUS,  the  great  object  of  pro- 
phecy from  the  beginning — himself  "  the  spirit  of  prophecy  ;" 
— foretold,  besides  his  own  death  and  resurrection,  the 


LECTURE    VII.  195 

calamities  that  should  befall  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  the  utter 
destruction  of  the  Jewish  state.  Paul  followed  his  Master's 
steps,  as  well  in  the  walks  of  prophecy,  as  of  martyrdom, 
forewarning  the  church  of  "  that  man  of  sin,  the  son  of 
perdition,  whose  coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with 
all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders."*  John  closed  the 
succession  of  prophecy,  and  the  canon  of  scripture  together, 
with  predictions,  the  awful  sublimity  of  which  no  pen  can 
rival,  and  the  wonderful  expanse  of  which,  nothing  but  the 
events  of  all  future  time  can  measure. 

Thus  have  we  a  train  of  holy  men,  reaching  from  the 
earliest  age  of  mankind,  through  a  period  of  more  than  four 
thousand  years,  and  extending  their  prediction  to  the  world's 
end.  I  see  in  them  the  utmost  variety — as  well  as  to  condi  - 
tion  and  character,  as  to  the  ages  in  which  they  lived — 
princes,  patriarchs,  priests,  legislators,  shepherds,  jisher- 
men.  Exceedingly  various  in  natural  qualifications,  in 
education,  habits,  and  employments  ;  they  wrote  in  various 
styles,  but  each  as  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Now 
when,  in  connexion  with  this  variety  in  the  prophets  them- 
selves, I  consider  the  vast  variety  and  extent  of  the  subjects 
on  which  their  predictions  are  employed,  embracing  not  only 
the  history  of  the  Jews  for  many  centuries,  but  that  also  of 
the  minor  nations  immediately  around,  with  that  of  the 
more  remote  empires  of  Egypt,  and  Assyria,  and  Chaldea, 
and  Persia,  and  Macedon,  and  Rome ;  when  I  consider  that 
in  this  immense  vastness  of  extent,  so  great  is  their  minute- 
ness of  detail,  that  sundry  particular  events  and  features  in 
their  destruction,  not  only  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  but  also 
of  Nineveh,  and  Babylon,  and  Tyre,  are  predicted  with  the 
most  graphic  and  striking  precision  ;  when,  in  the  midst  of 
such  wonderful  diversity  of  authors,  ages,  circumstances, 
and  of  subjects,  from  the  downfall  of  an  empire,  to  the 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  3—9. 


196  LECTURE  VII. 

tumbling  of  a  wall,  I  perceive  not  the  smallest  inconsistency 
or  collision,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  utmost  harmony,  as  well 
of  execution  as  of  purpose  and  of  spirit — the  whole  array 
of  prophecy,  from  first  to  last,  bearing  down  and  concentra- 
ting upon  one  grand  object — the  testimony  of  Jesus — the 
rise,  progress,  and  eternal  accomplishment  of  his  plan  of 
redeeming  love  ;  in  a  word,  when  I  behold  a  scheme  so  vast, 
as  to  embrace  all  time,  and  yet  so  minute  that  it  can  detail 
the  events  of  an  hour ;  so  general  that,  in  a  few  lines,  it 
predicts  the  history  of  the  four  mightiest  empires,  and  yet  so 
particular  that  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  history  of  one 
individual ;  so  diversified  in  its  materials,  as  to  be  made  up 
of  contributions  from  men  of  all  ages  and  minds,  during  a 
period  of  four  thousand  years  ;  and  yet  so  identical  that  one 
spirit  and  one  grand,  harmonious  purpose  animate  the 
whole;  when  I  compare  all  this,  arrayed,  as  it  is,  in  the 
richest  poetry  and  loftiest  eloquence  that  eye  of  man  ever 
read,  with  whatever  else  in  the  world  ever  pretended  to 
the  praise  of  prophecy ;  I  behold  a  grandeur  of  conception 
— a  sublimity  of  design — an  all-controlling  power  of  execu- 
tion— a  unity  and  self-depending  supremacy  of  mind  which 
bespeak  the  omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  Him  who 
"  icas,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,  the  Almighty"  I  say  nothing 
yet  of  the  fulfilment  of  any  portion  of  this  stupendous  plan  ; 
1  only  say,  look  at  the  plan  itself  in  all  its  comprehensive- 
ness and  minuteness,  and  tell  me  if  it  be  not  utterly  at  vari- 
ance with  all  human  experience,  and  in  itself  perfectly 
incredible,  that  imposture  should  have  conceived  such  a 
scheme,  or  should  ever  have  dared  to  commit  its  cause  to  a 
venture  that  could  only  succeed  by  a  continuance  of  miracu- 
lous fortune  through  all  ages  of  the  world.  Consider  the 
plan  itself,  the  various  minds  that  carried  on  the  succession 
of  its  several  predictions,  forming  a  line  of  holy  men  from 
the  earliest  periods  of  antediluvian  history,  down  to  the  last 
of  the  apostles  of  Christ ;  see  how  they  all  agree  in  spirit 


LECTURE  VII.  197 

and  purpose,  while  yet  so  different  in  character  and  circum- 
stances; see  how  they  all  unite  in  testifying  of  Christ,  so 
that,  as  the  last  of  them  said,  "  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the 
Spirit  of  prophecy  ;"  then  tell  me  how  imposture  can  be 
supposed  to  have  wrought,  unexposed,  for  so  many  thousands 
of  years ;  how  it  could  have  chosen  its  agents  out  of  forty 
centuries — out  of  circumstances  so  disadvantageous,  and  bid 
them  embrace  such  an  immense  range  of  subjects  for  their 
predictions,  and  yet  without  any  inconsistency,  or  want  of 
harmony,  or  any  thing  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  one 
all-pervading  mind  having  regulated  the  whole.  I  do  not 
now  say  that  so  much  as  one  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled. 
I  only  say,  and  I  challenge  all  denial,  that  not  a  single  pre- 
diction in  the  whole  succession  can  be  shown  to  have  failed ; 
or  to  have  been  contradicted  by  the  times  or  events  to  which 
it  referred.  I  only  assert  that,  while  many  of  the  prophe- 
cies remain  unfulfilled,  because  the  times  they  relate  to  have 
not  arrived;  a  very  great  number  must  have  either  been 
fulfilled  already,  or  have  utterly  failed ;  and  yet  no  unbeliever 
could  ever  put  his  hand  on  that  portion  of  history  which 
contradicted  the  truth  of  any.  I  ask  you  to  remember  this 
important  and  undeniable  fact,  and  then  say  whether  it  is 
not  most  impressive  evidence  that  another  mind  than  that  of 
man  was  the  author  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible ;  whether 
it  can  be  supposed  possible  in  the  nature  of  things  that 
human  ingenuity  could  have  contrived  a  volume  of  predic- 
tions— reaching  so  far — extending  so  widely — telling  so 
much — assuming  such  particularity,  without  having  been 
contradicted  by  a  single  event  in  the  history  of  nearly  six 
thousand  years. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  question  of  fulfilment.  1  under- 
take to  show  that  the  history  of  the  world  has  wonderfully 
responded  to  the  prophecies  of  the  Bible,  and  echoed  back  to 
the  holy  men  who  uttered  them,  a  complete  assurance  that 
they  "spake, as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 


198  LECTURE   VII. 

where  shall  I  begin  ?  It  were  easier  to  write  a  volume  on 
this  one  subject,  than  to  compress  the  matter  within  our 
necessary  limits,  so  as  to  do  it  any  tolerable  justice.  Select- 
ing some  insulated  portions  of  the  train  of  prophecy,  we 
must  content  ourselves  with  exhibiting  their  accomplishment 
as  specimens  of  the  whole.  To  this,  the  remainder  of  the 
present  lecture,  and  the  whole  of  the  next,  will  be  devoted. 

As  an  example  of  minute  prediction  and  singular  fulfil- 
ment, compare  Jeremiah,  xxxiv.  2  and  3,  with  Ezekiel,  xii. 
13.  In  the  former  scripture,  it  was  foretold  by  one  prophet, 
that  Zedekiah,  the  king  of  Judah,  should  be  delivered  into 
the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  behold  his  eyes,  and 
speak  with  him  mouth  to  mouth,  and  go  to  Babylon.  In 
the  latter,  it  was  foretold  by  another  prophet,  that  Zedekiah 
should  not  see  Babylon,  though  he  should  die  there.  But  is 
there  not  a  contradiction  here?  How  could  Zedekiah  be 
taken  to  Babylon,  and  behold  her  king,  and  die  there,  and 
yet  never  see  the  city  1  The  history  of  the  kings  of  Judah, 
written  without  any  design  of  pointing  out  the  fulfilment 
of  prophecy,  fully  explains  the  difficulty.  Zedekiah  was 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  beheld 
his  eyes,  and  spake  with  him  mouth  to  mouth ;  not,  how- 
ever, at  Babylon,  but  at  Riblah.  There  his  eyes  were  put 
out  by  command  of  his  captor.  In  this  state,  he  went  to 
Babylon,  and  died  there,  having-  never  seen  the  city  of  his 
captivity. 

Another  example  of  wonderful  minuteness  is  found  in 
the  prophecies  of  the  fall  and  destruction  of  Babylon.  We 
can  notice  only  a  small  part  of  them.  "  It  shall  never  be 
inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in,  (said  the  prophet,)  from 
generation  to  generation.  Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch 
tent  there,  neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there. 
But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there,  and  the  houses 
shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures  ;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there, 
and  satyrs  shal1  dance  there,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the 


LECTURE    VII.  199 

desert  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses,  and  dragons  in  theii 
pleasant  palaces."*  "I  will  also  make  it  a  possession  foi 
the  bittern,  and  pools  of  water  :  and  I  will  sweep  it  with  the 
besom  of  destruction,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  These 
words  were  uttered  when  Babylon  was  "  the  glory  of  king- 
doms, the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,"  about  160 
years  before  she  was  brought  down.  "  How  hath  the  golden 
city  ceased  !"  "  Her  pomp  is  brought  down  to  the  grave." 
Sixteen  centuries  have  passed  since  her  foundations  were 
inhabited  by  a  human  being.  Deterred  by  superstitious 
fears  of  evil  spirits,  which  are  said  to  haunt  the  place  where 
she  stood,  and  by  the  more  rational  dread  of  reptiles  and 
wild  beasts,  the  wandering  Arab  never  pitches  his  tent  there. 
In  a  plain  once  famous  for  the  richness  of  its  pasture,  the 
shepherds  make  no  fold.  Reptiles,  bats,  and  "  doleful  crea- 
tures"— jackals,  hyenas,  and  lions — inhabit  the  holes,  and 
caverns,  and  marshes,  of  the  desolate  city.  In  the  fourth 
century,  Babylon  was  a  hunting  ground  for  the  Persian 
monarchs.  By  the  annual  overflowing  of  the  Euphrates, 
pools  of  stagnant  water  are  left  in  the  hollow  places  of  the 
ancient  site,  by  which  morasses  have  been  formed,  so  that 
Babylon  has  indeed  become  a  possession  for  the  bittern, 
and  pools  of  water.  It  has  been  swept  with  the  besom 
of  destruction.  The  fertile  plain  of  Shinar,  renowned  foi 
its  ancient  abundance,  is  an  uninterrupted  desert,  strewed 
with  the  confused  ruins  of  Grecian,  Roman,  and  Arabian 
towns.  A  modern  traveller,  in  his  "  search  after  the  walls 
of  Babylon?  describes  "  a  mass  of  solid  wall,  about  thirty 
feet  in  length,  by  twelve  or  fifteen  in  thickness,"  as  the  only 
part  of  them  that  can  now  be  discovered.!  Thus,  accord- 
ing to  the  words  of  the  prophet,  is  she  cast  up  as  heaps, 
destroyed  utterly  ;  nothing  of  her  is  left.l 

Tyre  was  once  the  emporium  of  the  world,  "  the  theatre 

*  Is.  xiii.  20  21,  22.        t  Buckingham's  Travels         *  Ter.  1.  26. 


200  LECTURE  VII. 

of  an  immense  commerce  and  navigation,  the  nursery  of 
arts  and  science,  and  the  city  of  perhaps  the  most  industrious 
and  active  people  ever  known."*  Situate  at  the  entry  of 
the  sea,  she  was  a  merchant  of  the  people  for  many  isles. 
All  nations  were  her  merchants  in  all  sorts  of  things.  The 
ships  of  Tarshish  did  sing  of  her  in  the  market ;  and  she 
was  replenished  and  made  very  glorious  in  the  midst  of  the 
seas."}  It  was  of  this  mistress  of  princes,  that  Ezekiel 
prophesied  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  :  "  I  will  scrape  her  dust 
from  her,  and  make  her  like  the  top  of  a  rock.  It  shall  be 
a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."l 
How  singularly  particular  !  She  was  not  only  to  be  utterly 
destroyed,  but  the  use  that  would  be  made  of  her  site,  and 
the  kind  of  men  who  would  inhabit  it  were  pointed  out  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before  her  complete  destruction. 
How  precise  the  fulfilment !  Shaw,  in  his  book  of  travels, 
describes  the  port  of  Tyre  as  so  choked  up,  that  the  boats 
of  the  fishermen,  who  now  and  then  come  to  the  place,  and 
dry  their  nets  upon  its  rocks  and  ruins,  can  hardly  enter.§ 
Bruce  describes  the  site  of  Tyre  as  "  a  rock  whereon  fishers 
dry  their  nets."  But  the  testimony  of  the  infidel,  Volney,  is 
more  valuable.  "  The  whole  village  of  Tyre  contains  only 
fifty  or  sixty  poor  families,  who  live  obscurely  on  the  produce 
of  their  little  ground  and  a  trifling  fishery. "\\ 

Egypt,  the  most  ancient,  was  also  the  most  powerful  and 
wealthy  of  kingdoms.  But  a  prophecy  went  forth  against 
her  while  yet  she  was  in  all  her  pomp  and  pride,  that  the 
pride  of  her  power  should  come  down  ;  that  her  land  and  all 
that  was  therein  should  be  made  waste  by  the  hand  of  stran- 
gers ;  that  there  should  be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  should  depart 


*  Volney's  Travels.        1  Ezek.  xxvii.        t  Ib.  xxvi.  4,  5. 
§  Shaw's  Travels,  ii.  p.  31.         II  Travels,  ii.  p.  212. 
«T  Ezek.  xxx.  6,  12,  13.— Zcch.  x.  11. 


LECTURE  VII.  5iU. I 

How  universally  this  once  fertile  country,  the  granary  of 
the  world,  has  been  wasted,  and  her  innumerable  cities  have 
been  buried;  how  remarkably  the  hand  of  strangers  has 
done  it,  and  how  deplorably  the  remnant  of  this  populous 
nation  is  now,  and  has  been  for  many  centuries,  under 
slavery,  and  ignorance,  and  poverty,  and  rapine,  and  every 
crime,  I  need  not  describe.  The  most  remarkable  portion  of 
the  prophecy  is  that  which  declares  that  there  shall  be  "  no 
more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  From  the  conquest 
of  the  Persians,  about  350  years  before  Christ,  to  the  present 
day,  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  has  been  broken ;  she  has  been 
governed  by  strangers ;  every  effort  to  raise  an  Egyptian  to 
the  throne  has  been  defeated.  Out  of  the  mouth  of  Volney, 
the  Lord  has  caused  to  be  declared  the  fulfilment  of 
His  word.  Of  Egypt,  that  most  unwilling  agent  in  esta- 
blishing the  truth  of  scripture  writes :  "  Deprived,  twenty- 
three  centuries  ago,  of  her  natural  proprietors,  she  has 
seen  her  fertile  fields  successively  a  prey  to  the  Persians, 
the  Macedonians,  the  Romans,  the  Greeks,  the  Arabs,  the 
Georgians,  and  at  length  the  race  of  Tartars,  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Ottoman  Turks.  The  Mamalukes,  pur- 
chased as  slaves  and  introduced  as  soldiers,  soon  usurped  the 
power,  and  elected  a  leader.  If  their  first  establishment  was 
a  singular  event,  their  continuance  is  not  less  extraordinary. 
They  are  replaced  by  slaves  brought  from  their  original 
country.  The  system  of  oppression  is  methodical.  Every 
thing  the  traveller  sees  or  hears  reminds  him  he  is  in  the 
country  of  slavery  and  tyranny."* 

Among  the  most  interesting  fulfilments  of  prophecy,  are 
those  discovered  in  the  present  condition  of  the  country  and 
cities  of  Judea.  For  a  very  striking  view  of  them,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Keith  on  Prophecy,  a  valuable  work 
lately  republished  in  this  country.  But  there  is  one  predic- 


*  Travels,  ii.  p.  74,  103,  110,  198. 

17 


202  LECTURE    VII. 

tion  in  this  department  which  I  cannot  pass  over.  After 
describing  the  divine  judgments  upon  the  land,  the  prophet 
adds :  "  The  generation  to  come  of  your  children,  and  the 
stranger  that  shall  come  from  afar  land,  shall  say,  when  they 
see  the  plagues  of  that  land,  and  the  sickness  which  the  Lord 
hath  laid  upon  it :  {  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto 
this  land  ?  What  meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger  ?'  "* 
About  three  thousand  years  after  these  words  were  written, 
a  famous  traveller,  a  scoffer  at  the  scriptures,  walks  through 
this  smitten  country.  He  is  a  stranger  from  a  far  land. 
Deeply  impressed  with  the  aspect  of  all  things  around  him, 
and  in  all  probability  entirely  ignorant  of  the  prophecy  he  is 
about  to  fulfil,  he  exclaims  :  "  Good  God !  from  whence  pro- 
ceed such  melancholy  revolutions  ?  For  what  cause  is  the 
fortune  of  these  countries  so  strikingly  changed  ?  Why  are 
so  many  cities  destroyed  ?  Why  is  not  that  ancient  popula- 
tion reproduced  and  perpetuated."  "I  wandered  over  the 
country.  1  traversed  the  provinces.  I  enumerated  the  king- 
doms of  Damascus  and  Idumea,  of  Jerusalem  and  Samaria. 
This  Syria,  said  I  to  myself,  now  almost  depopulated,  then 
contained  a  hundred  flourishing  cities,  and  abounded  with 
towns,  villages,  and  hamlets.  What  are  become  of  so  many 
productions  of  the  hands  of  man  ?"t  &c. 

No  prophecies  deserve  more  of  the  attention  of  the  student 
of  scripture  than  those  concerning  the  Jews,  which  are  scat- 
tered from  one  end  of  the  Bible  to  the  other.  Their  wonder- 
ful accomplishment  is  in  every  one's  view.  We  can  only 
glance  at  some  of  the  many  particulars  which  they  em- 
brace. Three  thousand  two  hundred  years  a«:o,  it  was 
written  by  Moses :  "  The  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all 
people,  from  the  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto  the  other  ; 
and  among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither 
shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest ;  and  thou  shalt  become  an 

*  Deut.  xxix.  22,  24.  t  Volney's  Ruins,  c.  ii.  p.  8. 


LECTURE   VII. 

astonishment,  a  proverb,  and  a  by-word  among  all  the  nations 
whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  thee ;  and  thou  shalt  be  only 
oppressed  and  crushed  alway ;  and  the  Lord  will  make  thy 
plagues  wonderful,  and  the  plague  of  thy  seed,  even  great 
plagues  and  of  long  continuance."*  But  notwithstanding  all 
this,  the  Jews  were  not  to  be  destroyed  without  recovery. 
"  Yet  for  all  that  (saith  the  prophet),  when  they  be  in  the  land 
of  their  enemies,  I  will  not  cast  them  away,  neither  will  I  ab- 
hor them  to  destroy  them  utterly ."t  "  I  will  make  a  full  end 
of  all  the  nations  whither  I  have  driven  thee,  but  I  will  not 
make  a  full  end  of  thee."J  "  For  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
abide  many  days  without  a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and 
without  a  sacrifice,  and  without  an  image,  and  without  an 
ephod,  and  without  teraphim :  afterwards  shall  the  children 
of  Israel  return,  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David 
their  king  ;  and  shall  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the 
latter  days."§ 

There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  nations  so  unac- 
countable, on  human  principles,  as  the  destruction  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Jews.  "  Scattered  among  all  nations ;" 
where  are  they  not  ?  Citizens  of  the  world,  and  yet  citizens 
of  no  country  in  the  world ;  in  what  habitable  part  of  the 
world  is  not  the  Jew  familiarly  knoAvn  ?  He  has  wandered 
every  where,  and  is  still  every  where  a  wanderer.  One 
characteristic  of  this  wonderful  race  is  written  over  all  their 
history,  from  their  dispersion  to  the  present  time.  Among 
the  nations,  they  have  found  no  ease,  nor  rest  to  the  soles  of 
their  feet.  Banished  from  city  to  city,  and  from  country 
to  country;  always  insecure  in  their  dwelling  places,  and 
liable  to  be  suddenly  driven  away  whenever  the  bigotry,  or 
avarice,  or  cruelty  of  rulers  demanded  a  sacrifice ;  a  late  decree 
of  the  Russian  Empire  has  proclaimed  to  the  world  that 


*  Deut.  xxviii.  t  Lev.  xxvi.  44.          t  Jer.  xlvi.  27,  38. 

§  Hos.ea,  iil  4,  5. 


204  LECTURE    VII. 

their  banishments  have  not  yet  ceased.  Never  certain  of 
permission  to  remain,  it  is  the  notorious  peculiarity  of  this 
people,  as  a  body,  that  they  live  in  habitual  readiness  to 
remove.  In  this  condition  of  universal  affliction,  how  sin- 
gular it  is  that  among  all  people  the  Jew  is  "  an  astonishment, 
a  proverb,  a  by-word."  Such  is  not  the  case  with  any  other 
people.  Among  Christians,  Heathens,  and  Mohammedans, 
from  England  to  China,  and  thence  to  America,  the  cunning, 
the  avarice,  the  riches  of  the  Jew  are  proverbial.  And  how- 
wonderful  have  been  their  plagues  !  The  heart  sickens  at 
the  history  of  their  persecutions,  and  massacres,  and  im 
prisonments,  and  slavery.  All  nations  have  united  to  oppress 
them.  All  means  have  been  employed  to  exterminate  them. 
Robbed  of  property;  bereaved  of  children;  buried  in  the 
dungeons  of  the  inquisition,  or  burned  at  the  stake  of  de- 
plorable bigotry ;  no  people  ever  suffered  the  hundredth  part 
of  their  calamities,  and  still,  they  live  !  It  was  prophecied 
that,  as  a  nation,  they  should  be  restored ;  consequently  they 
were  not  only  to  be  kept  alive,  but  unmingled  with  the  na- 
tions, every  where  a  distinct  race,  and  capable  of  being 
selected  and  gathered  out  of  all  the  world,  when  the  time  for 
their  restoration  should  arrive.  The  fulfilment  of  this,  forms 
the  most  astonishing  part  of  the  whole  prophecy.  For  nearly 
eighteen  hundred  years,  they  have  been  scattered  and  mixed 
up  among  all  people ;  they  have  had  no  temple,  no  sacrifice; 
no  prince,  no  genealogies,  no  certain  dwelling  places.  For- 
bidden to  be  governed  by  their  own  laws ;  to  choose  their 
own  magistrates ;  to  maintain  any  common  policy ;  every 
ordinary  bond  of  national  union  and  preservation  has  been 
wanting;  whatever  influences  of  local  attachment,  or  of 
language,  or  manners,  or  government,  have  been  found 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  other  nations,  have  been 
denied  to  them ;  all  the  influences  of  internal  depression  and 
outward  violence  which  have  ever  destroyed  and  blotted  out 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  have  been  at  work  with  unprece- 


LECTURE    VII. 


205 


dented  strength,  for  nearly  eighteen  centuries,  upon  the 
nation  of  Israel ;  and  still  the  Jews  are  a  people — a  distinct 
people — a  numerous  people,  unassimilated  with  any  nation, 
though  mixed  up  with  all  nations.  Their  peculiarites  are 
undiminished.  Their  national  identity  is  unbroken.  Though 
scattered  upon  all  winds,  they  are  perfectly  capable  of  being 
again  gathered  into  one  mass.  Though  divided  into  the 
smallest  particles  by  numerous  solvents,  they  have  resisted 
all  affinities,  and  may  be  traced,  unchanged,  in  the  most  con- 
fused mixtures  of  human  beings.  The  laws  of  nature  have 
been  suspended  in  their  case.  It  is  not  merely  that  a  stream 
has  held  on  its  way  through  the  waters  of  a  lake,  without 
losing  the  colour  and  characteristic  marks  of  its  own  current : 

O  * 

but  that  a  mighty  river,  having  plunged  from  a  mountain 
height  into  the  depth  of  the  ocean,  and  been  separated  into 
its  component  drops,  and  thus  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the 
world,  and  blown  about  by  all  winds,  during  almost  eighteen 
centuries,  is  still  capable  of  being  disunited  from  the  waters 
of  the  ocean ;  its  minutest  drops,  having  never  been  assimi- 
lated to  any  other,  are  still  distinct,  unchanged,  and  ready  to 
be  gathered,  waiting  the  voice  that  shall  call  again  the  out- 
casts of  Israel  and  the  dispersed  of  Judah.  Mean  while, 
where  are  the  nations  among  whom  the  Jews  were  scattered? 
Has  not  the  Lord,  according  to  his  word,  made  a  full  end  of 
them?*  While  Israel  has  stood  unconsumed  in  the  fiery 
furnace,  where  are  the  nations  that  kindled  its  flames? 
Where  the  Assyrians  and  the  Chaldeans  ?  Their  name  is 
almost  forgotten.  Their  existence  is  known  only  to  history. 
Where  is  the  empire  of  the  Egyptians  ?  The  Macedonians 
destroyed  it,  and  a  descendant  of  its  ancient  race  cannot  be 
distinguished  among  the  strangers  that  have  ever  since 
possessed  its  territory.  Where  are  they  of  Macedon  ?  The 
Roman  sword  subdued  their  kingdom,  and  their  posterity 


*  Jer.  xlvi.  28. 

17* 


206 


LECTURE    VII. 


are  mingled  inseparably  among  the  confused  population  of 
Greece  and  Turkey.  Where  is  the  nation  of  ancient  Rome, 
the  last  conquerors  of  the  Jews,  and  the  proud  destroyers  of 
Jerusalem?  The  Goths  rolled  their  flood  over  its  pride. 
Another  nation  inhabits  the  ancient  city.  Even  the  language 
of  her  former  people  is  dead.  The  Goths  !  where  are  they  1 
The  Jews  !  where  are  they  not  ?  They  witnessed  the  glory 
of  Egypt,  and  of  Babylon,  and  of  Nineveh ;  they  were  in  ma- 
ture age  at  the  birth  of  Macedon  and  of  Rome ;  mighty 
kingdoms  have  risen  and  perished  since  they  began  to  be 
scattered  and  enslaved ;  and  now  they  traverse  the  ruins  of 
all,  the  same  people  as  when  they  left  Judea,  preserving  in 
themselves  a  monument  of  the  days  of  Moses  and  the  Pha- 
raohs, as  unchanged  as  the  pyramids  of  Memphis,  which  they 
are  reputed  to  have  built.  You  may  call  upon  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  and  will  call  in  vain  for  one  living  representative 
of  those  powerful  nations  of  antiquity,  by  whom  the  people 
of  Israel  were  successively  oppressed ;  but  should  the  voice 
which  is  hereafter  to  gather  that  people  out  of  all  lands,  be 
now  heard  from  Mount  Zion,  calling  for  the  children  of 
Abraham,  no  less  than  four  millions  would  instantly  answer 
to  the  name,  each  bearing  in  himself  unquestionable  proofs 
of  that  noble  lineage. 

What  is  this  but  miracle  ?  Connected  with  the  prophecy 
which  it  fulfils,  it  is  double  miracle.  Whether  testimony  can 
ever  establish  the  credibility  of  a  miracle,  is  of  no  import- 
ance here.  This  one  is  obvious  to  every  man's  senses.  All 
nations  are  its  eye-witnesses. 

Among  the  most  striking  and  comprehensive,  and  yet 
particular  prophecies,  are  those  of  Daniel.  The  history  of 
the  four  great  empires  of  Chaldea,  Persia,  Macedon,  and 
Rome,  is  embraced  in  his  predictions.  We  mention  these, 
not  that  we  intend  to  trace  out  their  fulfilment,  but  merely,  in 
passing,  to  insert  a  remarkable  testimony  concerning  them 
from  one  of  the  most  learned  expositors  of  the  prophetic 


LECTURE    VII. 


207 


scriptures,  and  another  from  the  most  learned  and  acute 
of  the  ancient  opposers  of  Christianity.  Bishop  Newton, 
speaking  of  that  portion  of  Daniel's  prophecies  which  relates 
to  the  kingdoms  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  from  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  to  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  a 
period  of  148  years,  remarks:  "There  is  not  so  complete 
and  regular  a  series  of  their  kings — there  is  not  so  concise 
and  comprehensive  an  account  of  their  affairs — to  be  found 
in  any  author  of  those  times.  The  prophecy  is  really  more 
perfect  than  any  history.  No  one  historian  hath  related  so 
many  circumstances,  and  in  such  exact  order  of  time,  as 
the  prophet  hath  foretold  them ;  so  that  it  was  necessary 
to  have  recourse  to  several  authors,  Greek  and  Roman, 
Jewish  and  Christian,  and  to  collect  here  something  from 
one,  and  to  collect  there  something  from  another,  for  the 
better  explaining  and  illustrating  the  great  variety  of  par- 
ticulars contained  in  this  prophecy."*  Thus  far,  the  testimony 
of  a  learned  friend  of  Christianity.  The  corresponding 
testimony  of  a  learned  enemy,  we  have  in  the  celebrated 
Porphyry,  of  the  third  century,  to  whom  the  exact  corre- 
spondence between  the  predictions  and  the  events  was  so 
convincing,  that  he  could  not  pretend  to  deny  it.  lie  rather 
laboured  to  confirm  it ;  and  from  the  very  exactness  of  the 
fulfilment,  forged  his  only  weapon  of  defence,  in  the  asser- 
tion that  the  prophecy  could  not  have  been  written  by 
Daniel,  but  must  have  been  written  by  some  one  in  Judea, 
in  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.t  Others  after  him 
have  asserted  the  same  thing,  not  only  without  any  proof, 
but  contrary  to  all  the  proofs  which  can  be  had  in  cases  of 
this  nature.  They  preferred  the  denial  of  the  plainest  his 
torical  evidence  of  the  time  when  the  prophecy  was  written, 
to  the  acknowledgment  that  its  author  must  have  written 
"  by  inspiration  of  God."  Paine,  however,  whose  willing 

*  Newton  on  Prophecy,  ii.  149.  t  Lardner,  iv.  211 . 


208  LECTURE    VII. 

ness  to  escape  the  argument  from  prophecy  cannot  be 
questioned,  and  who  was  probably  ignorant  of  what  Por- 
phyry had  acknowledged  as  to  the  correspondence  between 
the  words  of  this  prophet  and  those  of  subsequent  history, 
confessed  the  authenticity  of  the  book  of  Daniel.  Here, 
then,  we  have  one  famous  infidel  acknowledging  that  the 
prophecy  was  written  at  the  time  and  by  the  man  to  whom 
it  is  ascribed;  and  another,  verifying  the  exactness  of  its 
fulfilment  in  the  history  of  a  subsequent  age.  Paine  denied 
the  fulfilment;  Porphyry,  the  authenticity.  Porphyry  ac- 
knowledged the  fulfilment;  Paine,  the  authenticity.  "He 
taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness." 

I  now  call  your  attention  to  the  prophecies  concerning  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  are  scattered  every  where  through- 
out the  prophetic  portions  of  the  Bible.  "  To  him  bear  all 
the  prophets  witness."  None  of  them  could  lay  down  the 
pen  of  inspiration  till  they  had  written  something,  directly  or 
indirectly,  of  Jesus. 

1.  The  first  class  of  these  predictions  consists  of  those 
which  relate  to  the  time  and  circumstances  of  the  advent  of 
Christ.  Daniel,  A.  C.  556,  determined  the  year  of  his  com- 
ing, when  490  years  should  be  accomplished  from  the  going 
forth  of  the  command  to  rebuild  Jerusalem.  Jacob,  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before  Daniel,  had  said  it  would  be 
when  the  sceptre  was  departing  from  Judah,  and  a  lawgiver 
from  between  his  feet.*  Haggai  and  Isaiah  declared  that  it 
would  be  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  during  the 
existence  of  the  second  temple.t  Micah  designated  Bethle- 
hem Ephratah  as  his  birth-place.t  Many  prophecies  pre- 
dicted that  he  should  come,  not  only  of  the  stock  of  Judah, 
but  of  the  stem  of  Jesse.  §  Isaiah  and  Malachi  spake  of  the 
messenger  who  should  go  before  him,  in  the  spirit  and  power 
of  Elijah,  to  prepare  his  way.il 

*  Gen.  xlix.  10.         t  Is.  xl.  9— xli.  27.— Hag.  ii.  6— 8.          t  Mic.  v.  2. 
§  i*.  x\.  1.  I   Is.  xl.  3.— Mai.  iii.  1— iv.  5. 


LECTURE    VII.  209 

2.  The  next  class  of  predictions,  concerning  our  Lord, 
contains  those  which  speak  of  his  life,  sufferings,  death, 
resurrection,  and  the  increase  of  his  kingdom.  These  are 
so  numerous  and  particular,  and  so  familiar  to  most  readers 
of  the  Bible,  that  we  shall  content  ourselves  with  a  rapid 
summary.  They  predicted  that  Christ,  or  Messiah,  would 
be  born  of  a  virgin  ;*  that  he  should  enter  Jerusalem  on  the 
foal  of  an  ass  ;t  that  in  his  manner  of  teaching  he  should 
be  characterized  by  special  gentleness  and  compassion  ;t  that 
he  would  be  distinguished  as  wise  "to  speak  a  word  in 
season  to  him  that  is  weary  ;"§  that  he  should  blind  the 
eyes  of  the  learned  and  proud,  II  and  preach  good  tidings  to 
the  poor  and  despised;  that  under  his  ministry  the  lame 
should  be  made  to  walk,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  blind  to  see, 
the  dumb  to  speak,  the  captive  to  be  loosed,  and  the  dead 
raised  up  ;°[\  that  he  should  teach  the  perfect  way,  and  be  the 
instructer  of  the  Gentiles  ;**  that  he  should  be  a  sacrifice 
for  sin,  be  rejected  of  the  Jews,  who  themselves  should  be 
rejected  of  God  ;tt  "  that  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  all  peo 
pie  should  worship  him  ;U  but  that  the  people  who  rejected 
him  should  continue  a  distinct  people,  and  yet  be  scattered 
over  all  nations,  and  wander  about  without  princes,  without 
sacrifices,  without  an  altar,  without  prophets,  looking  for 
deliverance  and  not  finding  it,  till  a  very  distant  period.  §§ 

The  correspondence  between  the  several  particulars  re- 
lated of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  predictions  scattered 
through  the  Bible,  is  extremely  striking.  The  evangelists, 
in  this  respect  are  but  echoes  of  the  prophets.  I  can  give  but 
a  rapid  sketch.  These  predictions  include  the  treachery  and 
awful  end  of  Judas ;  ||  I!  the  precise  sum  of  money  for  which 


*  Is.  vii.  14.          t  Zech.  ix.  9.          t  Is.  xlii.  1.  2,  3.          §  Is.  1. 4. 
II  Is.  v.  15.  IT  Is.  xxxv.  5,  6 — ix.  2.  **  Is.  xlii.  6. 

tt  Is.  liii.— viii.  14,  15.         «  Is.  Ix.  10,  11, 12,  &c.— liii.  12. 
«  Jer.  xxxi.  36.— Hos.  iii.  4,  5.         Illl  Ps.  xli.  9— Iv.  12, 13  14,  15 


210  LECTURE  VII. 

he  betrayed  his  Master ;  and  the  use  to  which  it  was  put.* 
They  specify  not  only  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  but  of  what 
they  should  consist.  That  his  back  should  be  given  to  the 
smiters,  his  face  to  shame  and  spitting  ;t  that  he  should  be 
put  to  death  by  a  mode  which  would  cause  his  hands  and  his 
feet  to  be  pierced ;  that  he  should  be  wounded,  bruised,  and 
scourged  ;J  that,  in  his  death,  he  should  be  numbered  with 
transgressors, §  and  in  his  sufferings,  have  gall  and  vinegar 
given  him  to  drink; II  that  his  persecutors  should  laugh  him 
to  scorn,  and  shake  their  heads,  reviling  him,  and  saying : 
"  He  trusted  in  the  Lord  that  he  would  deliver  him  ;  let  him 
deliver  him."T  Although  it  was  the  custom  to  break  the 
bones  of  those  who  were  crucified,  and  although  the  bones 
of  the  thieves  crucified  with  him,  were  broken,  yet  it  was 
predicted  that  "  not  a  bone  of  him  should  be  broken  ;"**  and 
moreover,  that  his  garments  should  be  divided,  and  lots  cast 
for  his  vesture  ;tt  that  while  he  should  "make  his  grave  with 
the  wicked,"  as  he  did  in  being  buried  like  the  wicked  com- 
panions of  his  death,  under  the  general  leave  for  taking  down 
their  bodies  from  the  cross,  he  should  at  the  same  time  make 
his  grave  "  with  the  rich,"  as  was  done  when  they  buried 
him  in  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea.tt  I  might 
enumerate  many  more  details  of  prophecy  centering  upon 
the  life  and  death  of  Christ.  What  have  been  mentioned 
are  abundantly  sufficient  for  our  present  argument.  I  have 
only  recited  a  concise  list  of  the  predictions.  I  cannot  sup- 
pose any  of  you  so  unacquainted  with  the  history  of  Christ 
as  not  to  be  able,  familiarly,  to  refer  to  all  those  passages  in 
^  is  life  and  death  by  which  they  were  minutely  and  wonder- 


*  Zech.  xi.  12,  13.          t  Is.  1.  6.          t  Zech.  xii.  10.— Ps.  xxii.  16. 

5  Is.  liii.  4,  5,  8,  and  12.        II  Ps.  Ixix.  21.         IT  Ps.  xxii.  7,  8. 

**  Numb.  ix.  12.— Ex.  xii.  46.— Ps.  xxxiv.  20.         ft  Ps.  xxii.  18. 

tt  Is.  liii.  9. — The  translation  of  this  verse  in  Lowth's  Isaiah  is  much 
more  to  the  point  than  that  of  the  common  text :  "  And  his  grave  was  ap 
vointfd  with  the  wicked;  but  with  the  rich  man  was  his  tomb." 


LECTURE     VII.  211 

folly  fulfilled.  Now,  consider  that  no  question  is  raised  by 
any  one,  whether  these  predictions  were  made  and  published 
several  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  The  enemies 
of  Christ,  his  crucifiers,  have  been  the  librarians  of  these 
writings.*  The  Jews  preserved  them  for  us,  with  sacred 
care,  for  many  hundreds  of  years.  They  were  translated, 
from  Hebrew  into  Greek,  at  least  two  hundred  years  before 
Christ.  The  Jews  then  understood  them  to  refer  to  the 
Messiah,  as  we  do  now ;  and  it  was  on  account  of  some  of 
them  that  a  general  expectation  of  the  speedy  coming  of 
Messiah,  prevailed  so  widely  in  Judea  at  the  time  of  the 
public  appearance  of  Christ. 

That  all  these  particulars  were  most  remarkably  combined 
in  the  person,  character,  works,  sufferings,  and  burial  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  I  need  not  say.  If  the  predictions  did  not  ori 
ginally  refer  to  him,  and  only  happened  to  be  accomplished 
in  him,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  out  of  the 
innumerable  millions  of  men  that  have  lived  since  they  were 
published,  some  other  individual,  if  not  hundreds,  would 
have  appeared,  exhibiting  the  same  correspondence.  Where 
is  the  record  of  such  an  event  ?  Can  the  person  be  men- 
tioned, in  whom  there  was  even  an  approximation  to  the 
fulfilment  exhibited  in  the  history  of  Jesus?  I  need  not 
say,  that  no  one  ever  pretended  to  be  able  to  find  such  a  per- 
son. These  prophecies  describe  a  combination  of  gentleness 
with  power ;  merit  with  ignominy ;  benevolence  with  con- 
tempt ;  they  bring  together  details  of  ancestry,  of  family,  of 


*  Augustine,  in  the  fourth  century,  spoke  very  often  of  the  great  advan- 
tage which  Christians  had  in  their  arguments  for  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  from 
the  subsistence  and  dispersion  of  the  Jewish  people,  who  every  where  bear 
testimony  to  the  antiquity  and  genuineness  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  so  that  none  could  say  they  were  afterwards  forged  by  Christians. 
He  therefore  calls  the  Jews  the  librarians  of  the  Christians ;  he  compares 
them  to  servants  that  carry  books  for  tlie  use  of  children  of  noble  families;  or 
that  carry  a  chest  or  bag  of  evidence  for  a  disputant. — Lardne.r^  ii.  598 


212 


LECTURE  VII. 


but!?,  of  time,  of  works,  of  sufferings,  of  death,  which  it 
were  ridiculous  to  pretend  have  been  united  in  any  individual 
whose  name  is  in  the  annals  of  man,  except  the  Son  of  man, 
Christ  Jesus. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  among  these  predictions,  there  are 
some  wLich  human  design  might  have  brought  to  pass.  I* 
may  be  suggested,  that  a  band  of  men  undertaking  to  pro 
mote  an  imposture,  and  having  these  predictions  before  them, 
might  have  selected  for  their  leader  one  who  had  been  born 
at  Bethlehem,  of  the  lineage  of  David,  and  might  have 
ordered  his  appearance  at  the  precise  time  of  the  prophecy. 
Let  this  be  supposed,  and  let  us  overlook  the  fact  that  no 
possible  motive  can  be  assigned  that  could  induce  a  band 
of  impostors  to  desire  the  setting  up  of  such  a  cause  as  that 
of  Christ ;  still,  how  would  imposture  contrive  to  unite  in 
its  leader  the  fulfilment  of  prophecies  which,  on  one  hand, 
foretold  him  as  eminent  for  wisdom  and  benevolence ;  and 
on  the  other,  for  shame  and  suffering  1  How,  on  this  supposi- 
tion, could  all  those  predictions  have  been  accomplished 
which  relate  to  the  agonies  of  the  cross?  Would  a  deceiver 
seek  crucifixion  for  the  sake  of  fulfilling  prophecy?  How 
was  it  managed  that  one  should  betray  him ;  and  afterwards, 
out  of  remorse,  hang  himself?  How  was  it  contrived  that 
the  enemies  of  Christ  should  measure  the  price  of  his  blood 
at  the  exact  sum  predicted;  and  then,  that  the  mercenary 
traitor  should  return  it  to  them  again,  and  they  should  use  it 
in  purchase  of  the  predicted  potter's  field?  How  did  im- 
posture so  artfully  combine  in  its  cause  all  the  persecutors  of 
Christ,  that,  without  any  design  to  advance  its  interests,  they 
should  have  chosen  precisely  that  mode  of  execution ;  those 
expressions  of  contempt;  those  instruments  of  torture;  those 
companions  of  his  sufferings ;  that  mixture  for  his  drink ; 
that  severity  to  his  body,  while  he  was  alive,  and  that  for- 
bearance to  it  after  he  was  dead,  which,  if  they  had  been 
anxious  to  prove  him  the  true  Messiah,  foretold  in  the  scrip- 


LECTURE  VII.  213 

tures,  woukl  have  composed  the  most  effectual  means  they 
could  possibly  employ  ?  Most  evidently,  the  bitter  adversa- 
ries of  Christianity — not  its  friends — brought  out  the  demon- 
stration that  Jesus  was  he  to  whom  gave  all  the  prophets 
witness. 

And  now  is  there  any  possible  escape  from  the  absolute 
necessity  of  acknowledging  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  in 
the  writers  of  the  Bible,  and  that  this  Spirit  has  testified  of 
Jesus?  Will  any  one  pretend  that  in  the  idea  of  chance 
there  is  any  explanation  of  the  coincidences  which  have 
been  mentioned  ?  It  will  not  be  useless  to  spend  a  moment 
on  this  matter  of  chance.  It  is  conceivable  that  a  prediction, 
uttered  at  a  venture,  confining  its  terms  to  but  one  event,  and 
expressing  that  in  a  general  way,  may  happen  to  result  so 
plausibly  as  to  seem  like  a  genuine  prophecy.  But  only  let 
it  descend  to  the  minutiae  of  time,  place,  and  incidents,  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  possibility  of  its  success,  by  a  fortui- 
tous concurrence  of  events,  will  become  extremely  desperate. 
Hence  the  oracles  of  heathen  antiquity  always  took  good 
care  to  confine  their  predictions  to  one  or  two  particulars,  and 
to  express  them  in  the  most  general  and  ambiguous  terms. 
Hence,  in  the  whole  range  of  history,  except  the  prophecies 
of  the  scriptures,  there  is  not  a  single  instance  of  a  predic- 
tion, expressed  in  unequivocal  language,  and  descending  to 
any  minuteness,  which  bears  the  slightest  claim  to  the  praise 
of  fulfilment.  But  to  set  this  in  a  more  impressive  light,  I 
will  quote  a  few  sentences  from  one  of  the  most  scientific 
laymen  of  the  present  day.  "  Suppose  (says  Olinthus  Gregory) 
that  instead  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  breathing  more  or  less 
in  every  book  of  scripture,  predicting  events  relative  to  a 
great  variety  of  general  topics,  and  delivering  besides  almost 
innumerable  characteristics  of  the  Messiah,  all  meeting  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  ;  there  had  been  only  ten  men  in  ancieni 
times  who  preiended  to  be  prophets,  each  of  whom  exhibited 
only  jive  independent  criteria  as  to  place,  government,  con- 

18 


214  LECTURE  VII. 

comitant  events,  doctrine  taught,  effects  of  doctrine,  character, 
sufferings,  or  death  ;  the  meeting  of  all  which  in  one  person 
should  prove  the  reality  of  their  calling  as  prophets,  and  of 
his  mission  in  the  character  they  have  assigned  him :  sup- 
pose, moreover,  that  all  events  were  left  to  chance  merely, 
and  we  were  to  compute,  from  the  principles  employed  by 
mathematicians  in  the  investigation  of  such  subjects,  the 
probability  of  these  fifty  independent  circumstances  happen- 
ing at  all.  Assume  that  there  is,  according  to  the  technical 
phrase,  an  equal  chance  for  the  happening  or  the  failure  of 
any  one  of  the  specified  particulars ;  then  the  probability 
against  the  occurrence  of  all  the  particulars  in  any  way,  is, 
that  of  the  fiftieth  power  of  two  to  unity ;  that  is,  the  proba- 
bility is  greater  than  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-fioe  millions 
of  millions  to  one,  that  all  these  circumstances  do  not  turn 
up  even  at  distinct  periods."*  But  this  calculation,  you  must 
observe,  specifies  no  particular  period  for  these  things  to 
take  place ;  but  allows,  from  the  time  of  uttering  the  predic- 
tions, to  the  end  of  the  world,  for  all  the  fifty  particulars  to 
occur.  But  if  a  time  be  fixed,  at  or  near  which  they  must 
happen,  the  immense  improbability  that  they  will  take  place 
exceeds  all  the  power  of  numbers  to  express.  This,  more- 
over, is  on  the  supposition  of  every  thing  being  under  the 
disposal  of  that  fiction  of  unbelief,  a  blind  chance.  How 
infinite  does  the  improbability  appear,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  "all  events  are  under  the  control  of  a  Being  of  matchless 
wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  who  hates  fraud  and  decep- 
tion ;  who  must  especially  hate  it  when  attempted  under  his 
name  and  authority."  This  is  enough,  one  would  think,  to 
silence  for  ever  all  pleas  of  chance,  as  furnishing  an  unbe- 
liever the  least  opportunity  of  escape  from  the  evidence  of 
prophecy.  What  then  is  the  conclusion  to  which,  by  the  con- 
siderations presented  in  this  lecture,  we  are  authorized  to  come? 

*  Gregory  *  Letters. 


LECTURE   VII.  215 

First:  That  in  the  Bible,  there  is  a  great  variety  of 
prophecy  relative  to  the  Messiah,  which  has  been  so  re- 
markably fulfilled  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  entirely  unfulfilled 
in  any  other  individual  of  whom  we  have  any  history,  that 
the  correspondence  necessarily  proves  the  predictions  to  have 
been  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the 
person  to  whom  that  inspiration,  in  the  uttering  of  those 
predictions,  referred. 

Secondly:  That  the  Bible,  in  thus  containing  genuine 
prophecies  scattered  through  its  several  books,  contains  a 
revelation  from  God,  and  exhibits  numerous  and  wide-spread 
impressions  of  the  seal  of  divine  authority. 

Lastly :  That  Jesus  Christ,  being  thus  pointed  out  and 
honoured  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  breathing  on  the  lips  of  holy 
men,  who  in  various  centuries  before  his  coming  concurred 
in  rendering  him  their  testimony,  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  was  and  is  to  come,  no  other  than  what  he 
said — the  Son  of  God — the  Saviour  of  sinners — "  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords." 

"Behold  (saith  He)  I  come  quickly:  blessed  is  he  that 
keepeth  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book."  "  He  that 
confesseth  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  confess  before  my 
Father  who  is  in  heaven."  But  "  how  shall  we  escape  if  we 
rv gleet  so  great  salvation?" 


216  LECTURE  vm. 


LECTURE    VIIL 

PROPHECY. 

OUR  blessed  Lord  was  a  prophet,  as  well  as  the  grand  sub- 
ject of  prophecy.  Not  only  did  he  possess  omnipotence  to 
call  up  the  dead  from  the  sepulchre,  but  omniscience  also  to 
bring  forth  from  the  darkness  of  the  future  what  to  uninspired 
man  lies  as  secret  as  the  mysteries  of  death.  By  prophecy, 
as  well  as  miracles,  he  established  the  divinity  of  his  mission. 
In  the  latter,  his  appeal  was  to  the  senses  of  eye-witnesses  : 
"  The  works  that  I  do,  they  bear  witness  of  me"  In  the 
former,  it  was  to  the  testimony  of  subsequent  history :  "Now 
I  tell  you  before  it  come  to  pass,  that  when  it  is  come  to  pass, 
ye  may  believe  that  I  am  he"  He  predicted  not  only  his 
own  sufferings,  and  death,  and  resurrection,  but  the  manner 
and  circumstances  attending  them  ;  the  treachery  of  Judas  ; 
the  denial  of  Peter ;  the  particulars  of  his  ignominious  treat- 
ment in  the  council  of  the  Jews,  and  under  the  hands  of 
Pilate  and  his  soldiers.  He  foretold  the  rapid  spread  of  the 
gospel ;  the  persecutions  of  his  disciples  ;  the  precise  manner 
of  Peter's  martyrdom  ;  the  continuance  of  John  till  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
bringing  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  church  of  God. 

But  none  of  our  Saviour's  prophecies  are  more  impressive 
than  those  concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  contained 
in  the  Gospels  of  Mark  and  Luke ;  but  most  at  large  in  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew.  These  we  select  as  the 
subject  of  our  consideration  at  present ;  believing  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  show,  by  most  impressive  evidence,  that  Jesus  did 
indeed  possess  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  consequently  was 
divinely  commissioned  in  setting  up  the  faith  of  the  gospel. 


LECTURE   VIIT.  217 

There  is  but  one  preliminary  question  to  be  answered,  at 
It  •*,  commencement  of  this  investigation :  Is  it  well  ascer- 
tained that  these  prophecies  were  published  before  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  ? 

This  has  been  already  settled,  in  our  lecture  on  the  subject 
of  authenticity;  in  which  it  was  shown  that  the  several  books 
of  the  New  Testament  were  written  in  the  age  to  which  they 
are  referred,  and  by  the  men  whose  names  they  bear.  It  will 
be  sufficient  to  state  in  this  place,  that  of  the  three  evangelists 
who  have  related  these  prophecies,  Matthew  and  Mark  are 
well  ascertained  to  have  died,  and  there  is  good  reason  to 
suppose  that  Luke  also  was  dead,  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem. 

The  Gospel  of  Matthew,  which  contains  the  most  com- 
plete account  of  the  predictions  in  question,  is  commonly 
acknowledged  to  have  been  written  first.  Its  date  is  about 
the  eighth  year  after  the  death  of  Christ.  The  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  being  in  the  seventieth  year  of  the  Christian  era, 
the  prophecies  in  relation  to  it  were  published  by  Matthew 
about  thirty  years,  and  were  declared  by  our  Saviour  about 
thirty-seven  years,  before  their  fulfilment.  Several  years 
elapsed,  also,  between  the  publication  of  the  same  prophecies 
by  Mark  and  Luke,  and  the  events  to  which  they  relate. 
John,  the  only  one  of  the  four  evangelists  that  lived  and 
wrote  subsequently  to  the  ruin  of  the  holy  city,  is  the  only 
one  that  omits  an  account  of  the  predictions  concerning  it 
But  we  have  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  that  no  suspicion 
of  an  ex  post  facto  origin  can  justly  attach  to  these  prophe- 
cies, in  the  important  fact,  that  although  familiarly  quoted 
by  the  early  Christian  writers  as  striking  evidence  of  the  pro- 
phetic character  of  Jesus,  we  read  of  no  writer  against 
Christianity  in  the  primitive  centuries  having  attempted  to 
paralyze  the  argument  by  maintaining  that  they  were  not 
published  till  Jerusalem  was  destroyed.  If  enemies,  so  near 
the  events  predicted,  had  nothing  to  say ;  will  any  deny  us 

18* 


218  LECTURE  Till. 

the  privilege  of  proceeding  in  our  present  investigation  tin 
embarrassed  by  any  question  on  this  head  ?* 

There  is  a  history  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which, 
if  it  had  been  composed  for  the  express  purpose  of  attesting 
the  complete  accomplishment  of  our  Lord's  predictions,  could 
have  hardly  been  made  more  appropriate  to  our  present 
object.  It  was  written  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  tragedy ;  a 
learned  witness ;  a  witness  who,  having  been  first  an  eminent 
leader  among  the  troops  of  Judea,  and  then  a  prisoner  to  the 
Roman  commander,  and  continually  kept  about  his  person 
for  the  sake  of  his  services,  cannot  be  accused  of  having 
written  without  accurate  information.  His  book  was  com- 
posed at  Rome ;  and  having  been  presented  by  the  author  to 
the  emperor  Vespasian,  and  to  his  son  Titus,  who  had  com- 
manded at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  the  latter  not  only  desired 
its  publication,  but  subscribed  his  own  hand  in  confirmation 
of  its  correctness.  It  was  also  presented  to,  and  approved  by, 
several  Jews,  who  had  been  present  at  the  scenes  described.! 
We  could  not  desire  a  more  complete  attestation  of  the 
fulfilment  of  our  Saviour's  prophecies  than  this  book  affords. 
And  yet  the  writer  was  a  Jew  to  the  day  of  his  death,  and 
consequently  an  enemy  of  Christianity,  and  could  have  had 
no  design  in  favour  of  the  prophetic  spirit  of  its  founder.  I 
speak  of  Josephus.  It  is  remarkable  that  one  of  the  most 
minute  prophecies  in  the  Bible  should  have,  from  an  enemy, 
the  most  minute  of  histories  to  show  its  fulfilment.  No  great 
event  in  profane  history  is  related  with  so  much  attention  to 
all  the  particulars  connected  with  it,  as  is  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  this  Jewish  writer.  When  we  consider  these 
things,  and  remember  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which 
Josephus  was  several  times  protected  from  almost  inevitable 
death,  we  may  clearly  discern  the  hand  of  a  wise  Providence, 


*  On  this  subject,   see  some  excellent  remarks  in  Paley's  Evidences,  Part 
ii.  c.  i. 
t  Josephus'  Life,  §  65,  p.  23. — Contr.  Apion    h.  i.  §  9 


LECTURE   VIII.  219 

preparing  the  way  of  the  gospel.  A  witness  was  preserved 
and  chosen  of  God,  to  write  an  account  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments upon  Jerusalem,  whose  testimony  neither  Jews  nor 
Heathens  could  deny  or  suspect.  We  proceed  to  compare  his 
statements  with  the  prophecies  in  question. 

I.  Let  us  begin  with  those  events  which  the  Saviour 
foretold  as  signs  of  approaching  desolation.  Thus  it  is 
written :  "  Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you,  for  many 
shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  I  am  Christ,  and  shall 
deceive  many"*  Here  are  two  distinct  predictions.  Many 
pretenders  to  the  character  of  the  Messiah,  and  their  success 
in  deceiving  many.  As  the  prophecy  draws  nearer  to  the 
chief  event,  it  enlarges  on  this  particular  sign  :  "  There  shall 
arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  show  great 
signs  and  wonder's."  Here  it  is  intimated,  that  as  the  great 
catastrophe  should  approach,  these  deceivers  would  multiply ; 
and  that  they  would  pretend  to  signs  and  miracles.  The 
very  places  where  they  would  appear,  and  whither  they 
would  lead  their  followers,  are  also  pointed  out.  "  If  they 
shall  say  unto  you,  Behold  he  is  in  the  desert;  go  not  forth : 
Behold  he  is  in  the  secret  chambers  ;  believe  it  not."i 

Now  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that,  until  the  day  when  these 
words  were  uttered,  there  had  been  no  events  in  Jewish 
history  in  any  manner  corresponding  with  those  which  they 
describe.  Two  years,  however,  had  not  elapsed  before  their 
fulfilment  began.  Simon  Magus,  very  soon  after  the  crucifix- 
ion, was  heard  boasting  himself  as  the  son  of  God ;  deceiving 
the  people  of  Samaria  with  sorceries  ;  to  whom,  they  all  gave 
heed,  saying  this  man  is  the  great  power  of  God.%  Anotner, 
named  Dositheus,  a  Samaritan,  pretended  that  he  was  the 
Christ  foretold  by  Moses.  In  about  the  tenth  year  after  the 
death  of  Christ,  appeared  one  Theudas,  who  assured  the 
people  that  he  was  a  prophet,  promising  to  show  a  miracle 
in  dividing  the  waters  of  Jordan. §  "By  such  speeches," 

*  Mat.  xxiv.  4,  5.        t  Ib.  xxiv.  26.        t  Acts,  viii.  9,  10. 

5  The  impostor,  mentioned  above,  must  not  be  confounded  with  him  of  the 


220  LECTURE    VIII. 

says  Josephus,  in  the  very  words  of  the  prophecy,  "  he 
deceived  many."*  As  we  approach  nearer  the  final  event, 
(A.  D.  55.),  these  deceivers  multiply.  "  The  country  was 
filled  with  impostors  who  deceived  the  people,"  and  "  persua- 
ded them  to  follow  them  into  the  wilderness  ;  where,  as  they 
said,  they  should  see  manifest  wonders  and  signs."!  Not 
only  were  the  people  thus  seduced  into  the  deserts,  but  also 
into  " the  secret  chambers"  The  inner  apartments  of  the 
temple  were  the  secret  chambers  referred  to  in  the  prophecy. 
Josephus  relates  that  a  great  multitude  whom  the  Roman 
soldiers  destroyed  in  the  "  cloisters"  of  the  temple,  had  been 
led  there  by  a  false  prophet,  who  had  made  a  public  procla- 
mation, that  very  day,  that  God  commanded  them  to  get 
upon  the  temple,  and  that  there  they  would  receive  miracu- 
lous signs  for  their  deliverance.  At  that  crisis,  "  there  was 
a  great  number  of  false  prophets."!  Thus  have  we  have  all 
the  particulars  of  the  prophecy,  so  far  as  it  has  been  quoted  : 
— Many  false  Christs  and  prophets,  deceiving  many  ;  pre- 
tending to  signs  and  wonders ;  leading  their  followers  into 
the  deserts  and  secret  chambers ;  and  multiplying-  as  the 
destruction  drew  near. 

II.  "  Ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumours  of  wars :  see 
that  ye  be  not  troubled :  for  all  these  things  must  come  to 

same  name,  spoken  of  by  Gamaliel,  Acts,  v.  36.  There  were  two  noted 
characters  of  the  name  of  Theudas.  The  one  referred  to  by  Gamaliel  appear- 
ed about  thirty  years  prior  to  the  time  of  the  council  which  that  learned 
Pharisee  addressed.  But  he  was  a  mere  insurrectionist,  making  no  pretension 
to  any  of  the  honours  of  that  great  prophet  whom  the  Jews  were  expecting. 
The  oerson  referred  to  in  the  text,  appeared  in  Judea  in  the  time  of  Cuspius 
Fadus,  the  governor,  and  professed  to  be  inspired,  to  be  a  prophet,  and  to 
have  the  gift  of  miracles.  Judas  of  Galilee,  or  the  Gaulonite,  mentioned  also 
by  Gamaliel,  was  a  political  partizan,  in  opposition  to  the  enrolment  made 
by  Cyrenius  in  Judea,  whose  doctrine  was  that  the  Jews  were  free,  and 
should  acknowledge  no  dominion  but  that  of  God.  Neither  he,  nor  the  elder 
Theudas,  can  with  any  propriety  be  numbered  among  "  false  Christs,"  or 
"  false  Prophets,"  such  as  the  Saviour  spoke  of  in  the  prophecy  under  consi 
deration.  See  Lardner,  i.  221—225. 

*  Tosephus'  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  b.  20.  c.  v.  1.        t  Ib.  c.  viii.  5. 

T  Josephus'  Wars  of  the  Jews,  b.  6.  c.  v.  5  2  and  3. 


LECTURE    VIII.  221 

pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  For  nation  shall  rise  against 
nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom"*  At  this  time, 
the  Jews  were  at  peace  among  themselves,  and  with  all 
nations.  To  human  view  there  was  so  little  reason  to 
expect  a  war,  that  even  some  years  after  when  the  emperor 
Caligula  ordered  his  statue  to  be  set  up  in  the  temple,  and 
there  was  danger  of  slaughter,  on  account  of  the  resistance 
of  the  Jews,  Josephus  remarks  that  "  some  of  them  could 
not  believe  the  stories  that  spoke  of  a  war."t  Nevertheless, 
such  became  in  a  short  time  the  rumour  of  war,  that  the 
fields  remained  uncultivated  on  account  of  the  public  anxiety. 
The  country  was  soon  filled  with  violence.  In  Alexandria, 
Caesarea,  Damascus,  Ptolemais,  Tyre,  and  almost  every  other 
city  in  which  many  Jews  and  Heathens  were  mingled,  fierce 
contentions  arose,  and  dreadful  slaughter  ensued.  In  the 
words  of  the  Jewish  historian :  "  The  disorders  all  over 
Syria  were  terrible.  For  every  city  was  divided  into  parties 
armed  against  each  other ;  and  the  safety  of  the  one  depended 
on  the  destruction  of  the  other.  The  days  were  spent  in 
slaughter,  and  the  nights  in  terrors."*  In  addition  to  these 
calamities,  the  Jewish  nation  rebelled  against  the  Romans ; 
Italy  was  convulsed  with  contentions  for  the  empire ;  and, 
as  a  proof  of  the  troublous  and  warlike  character  of  the 
period,  within  the  brief  space  of  two  years  four  emperors  of 
Rome  suffered  death.  § 

III.  Another  class  of  signs  was  predicted,  as  follows: 
"  There  shall  be  famines,  and  pestilences,  and  earthquakes, 
in  divers  places. n\\  These,  together  with  the  signs  previously 
mentioned,  the  Saviour  said  would  be  "  the  beginning  of 
sorrows."  There  came  a  famine  not  long  before  the  war, 
which  extended  all  over  the  country  of  the  Jews,  and  lasted 
with  severity  for  several  years.T  Both  before  and  after  this 
there  were  famines  in  Italy,  which  are  mentioned  by  histo- 

*  Mat.  xxiv.  6,  7.        t  Wars,  &c.  b.  2.  c.  x.  §  1. 

t  Wars,  &c.,  b.  2.  c  xviii.  §  1  and  2.        §  Keith  on  Prophecy. 

«  Mat.  xxiv.  7,  8.         T!  Acts  xi.  25 — 30.         Ant.  b.  20,  c.  ii.  6 ;  c   •*.  A 


LECTURE    VI II. 

rians  of  those  days.*  Pestilences  raged  in  various  places,  as 
the  full  time  for  Jerusalem's  cup  of  trembling  drew  nigh.t 
Josephus  speaks  of  one  at  Babylon.  Five  years  before  the 
destruction  of  the  holy  city,  there  was  a  great  mortality  at 
Rome,  while  various  parts  of  the  empire  were  visited  with 
similar  calamities.  Earthquakes  were  also  among  the  signs 
of  the  times.  Of  these,  the  heathen  historians,  Tacitus, 
Suetonius,  Philostratus,  &c.,  speak  of  many.  Crete,  Italy, 
Asia  Minor,  and  Judea,  were  visited  at  different  times,  and 
some  of  them  repeatedly,  with  earthquakes. t  Josephus 
describes  one,  in  Judea,  as  so  extraordinary  in  its  awfulness, 
that  "any  one  (he  remarks)  might  easily  conjecture  that 
these  wonders  foreshowed  some  grand  calamities  that  were 
coming."§ 

IT.  To  the  signs  already  mentioned,  we  find,  in  Luke's 
account  of  these  prophecies,  the  addition  of  "fearful  sights, 
and  great  signs  from  heaven"  These  sights  and  signs 
Josephus  sets  himself  to  the  work  of  narrating,  with  as  much 
particularity  as  if  he  had  been  specially  bent  upon  making 
good  the  words  of  Christ.  He  relates  that  just  before  the 
desolating  war,  "  a  star  resembling  a  sword  stood  over  the 
city,  and  a  comet  that  continued  a  whole  year."  At  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread,  and  "  at  the  ninth  hour  of  the 
night,  so  great  a  light  shone  round  the  altar  and  the  holy 
house,  that  it  appealed  to  be  bright  daytime ;  which  light 
lasted  for  half  an  hour."  "  The  eastern  gate  of  the  inner 
court  of  the  temple,  which  was  of  brass  and  vastly  heavy, 
and  had  been  with  difficulty  shut  by  twenty  men,  and  had 
bolts  fastened  very  deep  into  the  firm  floor,  was  seen  to  be 
opened  of  its  own  accord  about  the  sixth  hour  of  the  night." 
This,  the  learned  of  Jerusalem  understood  as  a  signal  of 
approaching  desolation.  Moreover,  "before  sun-setting, 
chariots  and  troops  of  soldiers,  in  their  armour,  were  seen 
running  about  among  the  clouds  and  surrounding  cities." 

*  Ant.  b.  3.  c.  xv.  3.        t  La-dner,  Hi.  499.        t  Ib.  iii.  499. 
5  Wars,  &c.,  b.  4.  c.  iv.  6  * 


LECTURE   VIII. 


223 


«  At  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  as  the  priests  were  going  by  night 
into  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  they  felt  a  quaking,  and 
heard  a  great  noise,  and  after  that  they  heard  the  sound  as 
of  a  multitude,  saying  :  '  Let  us  remove  hence.'  "  But  the 
sign  which  Josephus  considered  the  most  impressive,  was 
that  of  a  man  named  Jesus,  who,  four  years  before  the  war, 
at  a  time  of  entire  peace,  having  come  to  the  feast  of  taberna- 
cles, began  suddenly  to  cry  aloud :  "  A  voice  from  the  east — 
a  voice  from  the  west — a  voice  from  the  four  winds — a  voice 
against  Jerusalem  and  the  holy  house — a  voice  against  the 
bridegrooms  and  the  brides  ;  and  a  voice  against  the  whole 
people."  With  this  cry  he  went  through  all  the  city,  day  and 
night.  No  severity  of  punishment :  no  acts  of  kindness 
could  silence  this  voice.  He  spoke  neither  good  nor  ill  to 
any,  whether  they  gave  him  food  or  scourging.  For  seven 
years  and  five  months,  his  solemn  cry  continued ;  until  its 
warning  was  just  about  to  be  fulfilled.  A  little  while  before 
the  city  was  taken,  as  he  was  going  round  upon  the  wall,  he 
cried  with  his  utmost  force  :  "  Wo,  wo  to  the  city  again,  and 
to  the  people,  and  to  the  holy  house ;"  and  just  as  he  added, 
"  wo  to  myself  also,"  a  stone  from  one  of  the  engines  killed 
him  immediately.* 

However  incredible  the  narrative  of  these  signs  may  seem 
to  some,  it  is  not  a  little  in  its  confirmation  that  the  Roman 
historian,  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  same  time  and  place, 
says  :  "  There  were  many  prodigies  presignifying  their  ruin, 
which  were  not  to  be  averted  by  all  the  sacrifices  and  vows 
of  that  people.  Armies  were  seen  fighting  in  the  air  with 
brandished  weapons.  A  fire  fell  upon  the  temple  from  the 
clouds.  The  doors  of  the  temple  were  suddenly  opened.  At 
the  same  time  there  was  a  loud  voice,  declaring  that  the 
gods  were  removing,  which  was  accompanied  with  a  sound  as 
of  a  multitude  going  out.  All  which  things  were  supposed 
by  some  to  portend  great  calamities."t  Whether  all  these 

*  Wars,  &c.  b.  6,  c.  v.  §  3. 

t  Lardner,  iii.  G13.     Tacit.  Hist.  b.  5,  c.  ix. — xiii. 


224 


LECTURE    VIII. 


things  did  really  take  place,  or  whether  some  or  all  of  them 
were  not  the  conceits  of  superstitions  and  excited  minds,  I 
shall  not  discuss ;  nor  is  the  question  at  all  material  to  our 
present  object.  Certain  it  is  that  they^were  regarded  as  reali- 
ties at  the  time,  and  consequently  were  in  effect,  "fearful 
sights  and  great  signs  from  heaven"  to  the  Jews,  whatever 
they  may  have  been  in  reality.  It  required  as  much  of  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  to  predict  that  the  Jews  should  believe 
such  things  to  have  occurred,  as  to  predict  any  thing  else 
that  did  certainly  occur.  Whatever  we  may  conclude, 
therefore,  concerning  the  singularly  concurrent  testimony 
of  the  Jewish  and  Roman  historians,  the  prophecy  of  the 
Saviour  was  most  impressively  fulfilled. 

Y.  From  the  calamities  of  the  nation  and  city,  our  Lord 
continued  his  prophecy  to  those  of  his  own  followers :  {;  Be- 
fore all  these,  they  shall  lay  their  hands  on  you  and  perse- 
cute you,  delivering  you  up  to  the  synagogues  and  into 
prisons,  being  brought  before  kings  and  rulers  for  my 
name's  sake."*  "  They  shall  kill  you;  and  ye  shall  be  hated 
of  all  nations  for  my  name's  sake."\  "  /  will  give  you  a 
mouth  and  wisdom,  which  all  your  adversaries  shall  not  be 
able  to  gainsay  nor  resist."t  For  the  proof  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  all  this,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  afford  abundant 
evidence.  Remember  how  Saul  made  havoc  of  the  church, 
entering  into  every  house;  punishing  the  Christians  in  every 
synagogue,  and  persecuting  them  even  unto  strange  cities. 
Peter  and  John  were  delivered  to  councils.  Paul  was  brought 
before  kings.  The  former  were  also  imprisoned.  Paul  and 
Silas  were  not  only  imprisoned  but  beaten.^  There  was 
given  them  indeed  a  wisdom,  which  their  adversaries  were 
not  able  to  gainsay  nor  resist.  The  very  discourses  of 
Peter  that  caused  his  persecution  subdued  thousands  into 
obedience  to  the  faith  of  Christ. ||  The  murderers  of  Stephen 

*  Luke,  xxi.  12.        t  Mat.  xxiv.  9.        t  Luke,  xxi.  15. 

§  Acts,  viii.  3 — xxvi.  10,  11. — iv.  5. — xviii.  12. — xxiv.  and  T. — iv.  3. 

I  Acts,  ii.  41. 


LECTURE    VIII.  225 

.jil 

were  not  able  to  resist  the  wisdom  with  which  he  spake* 
The  jailer  that  incarcerated  Paul  and  Silas  in  the  evening, 
was  their  convert  before  the  morning.t  Felix  trembled,  and 
Agrippa  was  almost  persuaded  to  be  a  Christian,  under  the 
speech  of  Paul.  Stephen  and  James  were  put  to  death. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  none  of  the  original  apostles 
or  evangelists,  but  John,  died  a  natural  death.  Christians 
were  counted  as  the  fifth  of  the  world,  being  literally  hated 
for  the  very  name  they  bore.  About  six  years  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  arose  the  tremendous  persecution 
under  Nero,  when  it  was  enough  that  any  one  was  called  by 
the  name  of  Christian,  to  lead  him  to  torture.  Tacitus  bears 
witness,  not  only  to  their  exquisite  sufferings,  but  also  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  held  in  universal  hatred  on  account  of 
their  religion  and  name.t 

VI.  "  Then  shall  many  be  offended,  and  shall  betray  one 
another,  and  hate  one  another ;  and  because  iniquity  shall 
abound,  the  love  of  many  shall  wax  co/c?."§   The  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  in  his  epistles,  complains  of  Demas,  and  Phygellus, 
and  Hermogenes,  and  many  others  in  Asia,  who  turned  away 
from  him  ;  and  that  when  he  first  appeared  at  the  bar  of  Nero, 
no  man  stood  with  him,  but  all  forsook  him.ll     And  Tacitus 
speaking  of  the  persecution  by  Nero,  says :  "At  first,  those  who 
were  seized  confessed  their  sect ;  and  then,  by  their  indica- 
tion, a  great  multitude  were  convicted.^ 

VII.  Immediately  after  the  prediction   of  the  outward 
persecutions  and  internal  defections  by  which  the  servants 
of  Christ  were  to  be  troubled,  there  follows  this  remarkable 
prophecy  :   "  This  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  all  the  world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations  ;  and  then 
shall  the  end  come."**     The  end,  referred  to,  was  that  of  the 
Jewish  polity,  which  entirely  ceased  at  the  destruction  of  the 
Jewish  metropolis  and  temple.     Jesus  prophesied  that  before 

*  Acts,  vi.  10.   t  Acts,  xvi.  32 — 4.    t  Lardner,  iii.  498.    Tac.  Ann.  15.  c.  44. 
§  Mat.  xxiv.  10—12.       II  2  Tim.  i.  15.— vi.  10.— iv.  16.       IT  Ann.  b.  xv. 
•*  Mat.  xxiv.  14. 

19 


226  LECTURE   VIII. 

this,  that  is,  in  forty  years  from  the  time  when  he  uttered 
these  words,  the  gospel  would  be  preached  in  all  the  world 
Of  all  that  was  then  in  futurity,  what  could  have  been  more 
improbable,  or  to  human  view,  more  impossible  than  this  1 
The  gospel  was  then  received  but  by  a  handful  of  unlettered 
Jews.  In  a  few  days  after,  its  author  was  crucified  as  a 
malefactor;  his  disciples  were  scattered  and  discouraged; 
his  enemies  triumphant,  and  the  gospel  seemed  at  an  end. 
When  the  infant  church  was  gathered  together  in  Jerusalem, 
immediately  after  the  ascension  of  its  Head,  the  number  of 
the  disciples  that  could  be  collected,  was  but  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  What,  but  the  omniscience  of  God  could  have 
foreseen,  that  in  less  than  forty  years  that  church  would  be 
extended  into  all  countries  of  the  known  world  1  But  thus 
it  came  to  pass :  "  It  appears  from  the  writers  of  the  history 
of  the  church,  that  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
gospel  was  not  only  preached  in  the  Lesser  Asia,  and  Greece, 
and  Italy,  the  great  theatres  of  action  then  in  the  world,  but 
was  likewise  propagated  as  far  northward  as  Scythia,  as  far 
southward  as  Ethiopia,  as  far  eastward  as  Parthia  and  India, 
as  far  westward  as  Spain  and  Britain."*  The  epistles  of 
Paul,  in  the  New  Testament,  were  directed  to  churches 
then  flourishing  in  Rome,  Corinth,  Galatia,  Ephesus,  Philippi, 
Colosse,  and  Thessalonica.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
he  asserts  that  the  Christian  faith  was  then  (ten  years  before 
the  end)  "  spoken  of  throughout  the  world  "t  To  the  Colos- 
sians,  about  three  years  after,  he  asserts  that  "  the  gospel  had 
(then)  been  preached  to  every  creature  under  heaven"  t 
mea  rung  that  to  all  nations,  without  distinction,  it  had  beeu 
published.  Tacitus  bears  witness  that,  in  the  sixth  year 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Nero's  persecution),  the 
religion  of  Christ  had  not  only  extended  over  Judea,  but 
through  Rome  also;  and  that  its  followers  were  then  so 
numerous,  that  "  a  vast  multitude"  were  apprehended  and 
condemned  to  martyrdom. §  Thus,  impossible  as  such  an 

*  Newton,  ii.  257.  8.     t  Rom.  L  18.     t  Col.  i.  23.      §  Tac.  Ann.  b.  xv. 


LECTURE   VIII. 


227 


rrent  must  have  seemed  at  the  time  when  this  prophecy  was 
ittered,  the  end  did  not  come  until  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
rf  Christ  was  preached  "  in  all  the  world?  We  know  not 
which  should  be  considered  the  most  impressive  evidence  that 
God  was  with  the  gospel ;  this  wonderful  fact,  brought  to 
pass  oy  such  means,  and  in  the  face  of  such  universal  and 
deadly  opposition  ;  or  trie  prophetic  eye  by  which  the  Saviour 
predicted,  in  circumstances  so  unpromising,  that  thus  il 
would  be. 

VIII.  The  next  prophetic  sign  brings  us  almost  to  the 
awful  catastrophe.  "  When  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  com- 
passed with  armies  ;"  or,  as  the  expression  is  in  Matthew : 
"  When  ye  shall  SKH  the  abomination  of  desolation  stand  in 
the  holy  place"  " then  know  that  the  desolation  thereof  is 
nigh."  "  Then  let  them  which  be  in  Judea  Jlee  to  the  moun- 
tains :  let  him  that  is  on  the  house-top  not  come  down  to  take 
any  thing  out  of  his  house :  neither  let  him  which  is  in  the 
field  return  back  to  take  his  clothes"* 

By  the  abomination  of  desolation  standing  in  the  holy 
place,  Matthew  expresses  the  same  thing  as  when  Luke 
speaks  of  Jerusalem  being  compassed  with  armies.  The 
standards  of  the  Roman  armies  had  on  them  images  to  which 
idolatrous  worship  was  paid,  and  which  were  therefore  an 
abomination  to  the  Jews.  On  this  account,  we  read  that  a 
Roman  general,  when  conducting  his  army  through  Judea 
towards  Arabia,  was  besought  by  the  principal  Jews  to  lead 
it  another  way.t  "Every  idol  and  every  image,"  says 
Chrysostom,  "  was  called  an  abomination  among  the  Jews." 
These  idolatrous  ensigns  being  connected  with  a  desolating 
army,  constituted  them  the  abomination  of  desolation ;  and 
when  the  Roman  army  planted  its  standards  around  the  holy 
city,  the  abomination  of  desolation  literally  stood  in  the  holy 
place,  or  on  holy  ground.  This  the  Saviour  predicted.  I'. 
was  to  be  the  signal  to  Christians  that  the  desolation  of 
Jerusalem  was  nigh.  Then  they  were  to  escape  with  haste 

*  Luko  xxi.  20.     Mat.  xxiv.  15   16,  17,  18.  *  Ant.  b.  18,  c.  vi.  §  3. 


228  LECTURE  VIII. 

to  the  mountains.     The  warning  implied  that,  even  after  the 
city  was  encompassed  with  armies,  they  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  escape ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  opportunity 
would  be  brief.     All  this  came  to  pass.     One  would  suppose 
that  the  Christians,  in  having  delayed  till  the  city  was  sur- 
rounded with  a  besieging  host,  would  thus  have  waited  till 
all  escape  was  cut  off.     But  a  rematkable  providence  took 
care  that  they  should  await  the  sign,  and  yet  obey  the  admo- 
nition to  flee.     Cestius  Gallus,  the  Roman  general,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  besieged  the  city;  took  possession 
of  the  suburbs ;  encamped  over  against  the  royal  palace  ;  and 
might  easily,  Josephus  says,  have  got  within  the  walls,  and 
won  the  city.     Indeed  "many  of  the  principal  men  were 
about  to  open  the  gates  to  him."    But  although  the  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  was  thus  in  the  holy  place,  the  followers  of 
Christ  were  there  also.     The  time  of  the  end,  therefore,  was 
not  yet  come.     An  opportunity  must  be  found  for  them  to 
flee.     The  Lord  sees  to  this.     Just  as  the  city  was  ready  to 
open  its  gates  to  the  Roman  chief,  "  he  recalled  his  soldiers 
from  the  place — without  having  received  any  disgrace ;  and 
retired  from  the  city,  without  any  reason  in  the  world?    This 
the  Jewish  historian  expressly  ascribes  to  a  special  interposi- 
tion of  Providence ;  though  he  knew  not  its  object.    It  could 
be  accounted  for  on  no  military  or  prudential  considerations. 
Josephus  relates  that  many  principal  men  of  Jerusalem  em- 
braced this  opportunity  to  depart  from  the  city  as  from  a 
sinking  ship.*    A  short  time  after,  when  the  Roman  armies 
were  again  approaching  with  the  abomination  of  desolation 
towards  the  holy  place,  our  historian  states  that  a  great 
'multitude  fled   to  the  mountains^     Among  these,    were 
probably  the  disciples  of  Christ.    But  we  learn  more  certainly 
from  ecclesiastical  historians,  of  the  early  centuries,  that,  at 
this  crisis,  all  the  followers  of  Christ  took  -refuge  in  the 
mountainous  regions  beyond  Jordan  ;  thus  obeying  the  pro- 
phetic warning  of  their  Lord;  so  that  there  is  nowhere  any 

*  W«r«  k.  a.  «  ~«    §  1.  f  lb.  h.  4.  c.  viii.  5  2. 


LECTURE   VIII. 


229 


mention  of  a  single  Christian  having  perished  in  the  siege 
and  destruction  of  Jerusalem.*  But  as  the  Saviour  fore- 
warned them :  what  they  were  to  do,  they  had  to  do  quickly. 
For  as  soon  as  Jerusalem  was  again  encompassed  with 
armies,  it  was  surrounded  entirely  with  a  wall,  so  that,  in  the 
words  of  the  historian,  "  all  hope  of  escaping  IPOS  now  cut 
off' from  the  Jews.^ 

Who  the  enemy  would  be,  and  the  power,  and  fury,  and 
universal  spread  of  his  desolations,  the  Saviour  foretold,  by 
the  use  of  this  proverbial  expression  :  "  Wheresoever  the 
carcass  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together. ''''I 
Prophecy  often  speaks  a  great  deal  in  a  few  words.  The 
carcass  was  the  Jewish  nation  given  over,  as  thoroughly 
corrupt  and  forsaken  of  God,  to  be  devoured  as  by  birds  of 
prey.  An  army  is  distinguished  by  its  banners.  They  con- 
stitute its  characteristic  insignia.  The  banners  of  the  Roman 
army  were  surmounted  by  eagles — emblems  of  strength,  of 
swiftness,  and  ferocity.  By  these  the  Saviour  described  it  as 
that  which  would  desolate  Jerusalem.  Literally,  wherever 
the  carcass  was,  these  eagles  were  gathered.  Josephus  testi- 
fies that  all  parts  of  the  land  participated  in  the  desolations 
of  Jerusalem.§  The  legions  of  Rome,  like  flocks  of  birds  of 
prey,  flew  from  city  to  city,  spreading  devastation  and 
slaughter  wherever  they  planted  their  standards.  With 
eagle-swiftness,  they  descended  upon  the  unprepared  popula- 
tion ;  with  eagle-strength,  they  triumphed  over  every  oppo- 
sition ;  with  eagle-fierceness,  they  devoured  and  tore  in 
pieces,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex,  sending  into  hopeless 
slavery  the  few  to  whom  the  sword  denied  its  mercy.  The 
melancholy  record  of  Jotapata  relates  that  all  its  population 
were  slain  but  infants  and  women.  ,  These  were  carried  into 
bondage.  The  rest,  forty  thousand,  were  slaughtered.  Joppa 
was  demolished ;  the  neighbouring  villages  were  destroyed  ; 
the  whole  region  was  laid  waste.  Of  all  the  population  of 

*  Lardner,  iii.  507.    Newton,  ii.  p.  266.        t  Wars,  h  5,  c.  xii.  §  2,  3. 
t  Mat.  xxiv.  28.         §  Wars,  b.  4,  c.  viii.  §  1. 

19* 


230  LECTURE   VIII. 

Gamala,  two  women  alone  escaped.  Here,  not  even  infants 
were  spared  the  sword.  Such  was  the  extreme  awfuhiess  of 
the  slaughter,  that  many  Jews  in  preference  threw  theii 
children,  their  wives,  and  themselves,  from  the  hill,  on  which 
the  citadel  was  built,  into  the  deep  abyss  below.  The  num. 
her  that  porished  thus,  was  computed  at  five  thousand. 
These  are  but  a  few  cases  out  of  the  many  which  illustrate 
the  perfect  accomplishment  of  the  prediction  before  us.* 

IX.  But  our  Lord  foretold  not  only  the  enemy  by  whom 
Jerusalem  would  be  destroyed,  but  the  means  by  which  it 
would  be  taken.  "  The  days  (said  he)  shall  come  upon 
thee  that  thine  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench  about  thee,  and 
compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side.\  A 
trench  and  a  wall  or  embankment  always  go  together  in 
military  operations.  Both  were  certainly  intended  here. 
But  it  was  exceedingly  improbable  that  such  a  measure 
would  be  resorted  to  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  The  nature 
of  the  ground,  and  the  great  extent  of  the  city,  rendered  it 
extremely  difficult.  It  had  never  been  attempted  in  the 
previous  sieges  of  the  same  place.  It  was  not  necessary, 
because,  had  the  Roman  general  been  content  to  wait  a  little, 
the  famine  and  the  contending  factions  within  the  city  would 
soon  have  delivered  it  into  his  possession.  After  all,  it  was 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  chief  men,  and  was  adopted 
only  because  a  more  protracted  siege  would  have  been  less 

*  How  minutely  were  the  enemy  and  his  desolations  described  by  Moses 
ns  much  as  one  thousand  five  hundred  years  before  the  war !  "  The  Lord 
shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee  from  far,  from  the  end  of  the  earth,  as  swift 
as  the  eagle  flieth ;  a  nation  whose  tongue  thou  shall  not  understand ;  a 
nation  of  fierce  countenance,  which  shall  not  regard  the  person  of  the  old,  nor 
shew  favour  to  the  young:  and  he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  and  the 
fruit  of  thy  land,  until  thou  be  destroyed :  which  also  shall  not  leave  thee 
either  corn,  wine,  or  oil,  or  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  or  flocks  of  thy  sheep, 
until  he  have  destroyed  thee.  And  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates,  until 
thy  high  and  fenced  walls  come  down,  wherein  thou  trustedst,  throughout  all 
thy  land ;  and  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates  throughout  all  thy  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee.  Dent,  xxviii.  49 — 52. 

r  Luke,  xix.  43. 


LECTURE    VIII.  231 

glorious.  The  higher  cause,  however,  was,  that  he  was 
God's  instrument  unwittingly,  to  fulfil  the  words  of  Christ. 
Titus  must  confirm  the  prophetic  character  of  Jesus.  By 
building  a  wall  about  Jerusalem,  he  was  to  build  up  the 
defence  of  the  gospel.  The  city  was  therefore  literally  com- 
passed round,  and  its  inhabitants  were  kept  in  on  every  side 
by  a  wall  and  trench,  put  up  by  the  troops  of  Titus,  and 
measuring  about  five  miles  in  circumference.  Josephus  is 
very  particular  in  stating  precisely  the  direction  of  the  wall 
in  its  whole  circuit.* 

X.  "These  be  the  days  of  vengeance"  said  the  Lord; 
"for  then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was  not  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time,  nor  ever  shall  6e."t 
Days  of  vengeance,  indeed,  they  were,  when  all  that  was 
written  and  threatened  in  Moses  and  the  prophets  was  ful- 
filled. As  if  Josephus  had  written  with  the  very  words  of 
the  Saviour  in  view,  he  bears  record,  that  in  his  opinion, 
"  no  other  city  ever  suffered  such  miseries  ;  nor  was  there 
ever  a  generation  more  fruitful  in  wickedness,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world"  " It  appears  to  me,  that  the  mis- 
fortunes of  all  men  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  if  they 
be  compared  to  these  of  the  Jews,  are  not  so  considerable." 
"  For  in  reality  it  was  God  who  condemned  the  whole  nation, 
and  turned  every  course  that  was  taken  for  their  preservation 
to  their  destruction."  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  truth 
in  this  case.  "  The  multitude  of  those  who  perished  (says 
our  historian)  exceeded  all  the  destructions  that  man  or 
God  ever  brought  on  the  world."!  At  the  commencement 
of  the  siege,  immense  multitudes  having  come  up  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  to  the  feast  of  the  passover,  the  nation, 
literally,  was  crowded  into  Jerusalem ;  so  that  the  city  was 
supposed  to  have  in  it  upwards  of  two  million,  seven  him 
dred  thousand  souls.  The  miseries  endured  by  this  impri 

*  Wars,  &c.  b.  5,  c.  xii.  §  2.  t  Luke,  xxi.  22. 

t  Wars,  &c.  b.  5,  c.  x.  §  5. — Preface  to  Wars,  §  4. — Wars,  b.  6,  c.  Tiii 
14.— b  piC.  ix.  §  4. 


232  LECTURE  VIII. 

soned  multitude  are  minutely  detailed  in  the  history  of  the 
siege.  Famine  commenced,  and  numbered  its  thousands  of 
unburied  and  loathsome  victims.  This  destroyer  raged  r»o 
widely  that  the  people  devoured  their  shoes  and  girdles,  the 
soldiers  the  leather  on  their  shields.  Wisps  of  old  straw 
were  turned  into  food.  That  which  before  they  could  not 
endure  to  see,  they  now  consented  to  eat.  United  to  these 
desolations  were  the  remorseless  cruelties  of  contending  fac- 
tions. The  city  was  filled  with  robbers,  who  divided  its 
population  into  parties,  more  destructive  than  all  the  soldiery 
of  the  besiegers.  Filled  with  rage  and  instigated  by  hunger, 
they  alike  refused  to  be  at  peace  with  each  other,  or  to  capitu- 
late to  the  common  enemy.  They  robbed  the  temple ;  slew 
the  priests  at  the  altar ;  defiled  the  sanctuary  with  a  sea  ot 
blood.  To  keep  each  other  from  food,  they  fired  storehouses 
containing  provisions  for  a  siege  of  many  years.  Whenever 
any  com  appeared,  bands  of  robbers  instantly  seized  it. 
They  searched  every  house  in  which  they  suspected  there 
was  food.  Parents  snatched  it  from  their  children ;  chil- 
dren spoiled  it  from  the  mouths  of  their  parents.  There 
was  a  lady  of  high  birth  and  much  wealth,  who  had  come 
from  the  country,  and  was  kept  in  Jerusalem  by  the  siege. 
All  her  effects,  and  all  the  food  she  had  saved  for  herself 
and  children,  had  been  taken  by  the  prowling  bands  that 
continually  ranged  the  streets  for  prey.  By  imprecations 
and  reproaches,  she  endeavoured  in  vain  to  provoke  them 
to  take  her  life  as  well  as  bread.  At  last  she  prepared  a 
feast.  Keen  hunger  found  out  a  lamb.  A  mother's  despera- 
tion slew  and  served  it.  Having  consumed  a  part,  the  rest 
was  concealed.  The  smell  of  food  soon  brought  in  the 
wolves.  They  threatened  instant  death  unless  she  disco- 
vered it.  With  bitter  irony  she  assured  them  that  a  fine 
portion  had  been  saved  for  them,  and  then  uncovered  what 
remained  of  the  lamb.  It  was  the  half-eaten  body  of  her 
infant  son.  Struck  motionless  with  horror,  they  would  not 
partake  of  it.  Then  she  upbraided  them  as  pretending  to 


LECTURE    VIII.  233 

more  tenderness  than  a  woman,  and  more  compassion  than 
a  mother.  All  the  city,  and  the  whole  Roman  camp,  were 
filled  with  astonishment  at  this  horrid  evidence  of  the  reign- 
ing wretchedness  ;  so  that  the  dead  were  envied  for  having 
escaped  the  sight  of  such  miseries.*  But  the  wo  went  on. 
The  prisoners  taken  in  endeavouring  to  desert  the  city  were 
nailed  on  crosses  by  the  Roman  soldiers,  "  some  one  way, 
some  another,  as  it  were  in  jest,"  around  the  outside  of  the 
walls,  "  till  so  great  was  the  number,  that  room  was  wanting 
for  crosses,  and  crosses  were  wanting  for  bodies."!  Thus 
had  the  Jews,  forty  years  before,  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory 
without  the  walls,  with  cruel  jesting  and  bitter  mockery.! 
Those  who  continued  within  the  city  took  refuge  in  caverns, 
aqueducts,  sewers,  and  other  secret  places,  to  escape  from  one 
another.  Titus,  as  he  beheld  the  dead  bodies  that  had  been 
thrown  from  the  walls  into  the  valleys,  "lifted  up  his  hands 
to  heaven,  and  called  God  to  witness  that  this  was  not  his 
doing."§  The  number  of  those  who  perished  during  these 
"  days  of  vengeance,"  is  computed  by  Josephus  at  upwards 
of  one  million,  three  hundred  thousand ;  and  of  these,  one 
million,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were  of  Jerusalem, 
beside  ninety-seven  thousand  carried  into  slavery,  and  an 
innumerable  multitude  who  perished  uncounted  in  various 
places,  through  famine,  banishment,  and  other  miseries.il 
Add  to  this  destruction  of  life,  the  complete  ruin  of  their 
holy  city  and  magnificent  temple,  dearer  to  the  Jews  than 

*  How  exactly  did  Moses,  at  least  fifteen  hundred  years  before,  depict  this 
very  scene !  He  described  even  the  rank,  quality,  and  habits  of  the  unhappy 
woman.  "  The  tender  and  delicate  woman  among  you,  which  would  not 
adventure  to  set  the  sole  of  her  foot  upon  the  ground  for  delicateness  and  ten- 
derness, her  eye  shall  be  evil  toward  the  husband  of  her  bosom,  and  toward 
her  son,  and  toward  her  daughter,  and  toward  her  young  one  that  cometh  out 
from  between  her  feet,  and  toward  her  children  which  she  shall  bear :  for  she 
shall  eat  them  for  want  of  all  things  secretly  in  the  siege  and  straitness  where- 
with thine  enemy  shall  distress  thee  in  thy  gates." — Deut.  xxviii.  56,  57. 

t  Wars,  &c.  b.  6,  c.  iii.  §  4.— b.  5,  c.  xi.  §  1. 

t  "  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children." 

f  B.  5.  c.  xii.  §  4.  II  Lardner,  iii   529. 


234  LECTURE    VI 11. 

life;  add  moreover  the  universal  desolation  and  almost 
depopulation  of  Judea ;  and  you  will  find  no  difficulty  in 
interpreting  the  Saviour's  prediction  of  "  a  tribulation  such 
as  was  not  from  the  beginning  of  the  world."  It  was  when 
our  compassionate  Redeemer  had  all  this  in  full  prospect 
that  "  he  beheld  the  city"  from  the  mount  of  Olives,  "  and 
wept  over  it,  saying,  if  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  in  this 
thy  day,  the  things  that  make  for  thy  peace,  but  now  they 
are  hid  from  thine  eyes."*  How  did  the  anticipation  of  all 
this  misery  affect  him,  when,  as  he  was  going  to  his  cross. 
he  turned  to  the  women  who  wept  and  wailed  because  of 
him,  and  said :  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me, 
but  weep  for  yourselves  and  your  children ;  for  behold  the 
days  are  coming,  in  the  which  they  will  say,  Blessed  are  the 
barren  and  the  wombs  that  never  bare,  and  the  paps  which 
never  gave  suck.  Then  shall  they  begin  to  say  to  the  moun- 
tains, fall  on  us,  and  to  the  hills,  cover  us  !"t  Who  can  help 
reflecting  here  upon  that  solemn  question,  "  What  shall  the 
end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  God  ?" 

XI.  We  come  now  to  the  work  of  destruction,  which 
forms  the  most '  remarkable  particular  in  this  wonderful 
prophecy.  The  ruin  of  the  city  was  foretold  in  these  words : 
"They  shall  lay  thee  even  with  the  ground,  and  thy  children 
within  thee :  and  they  shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon 
another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down"l  The  ruin  of  the 
temple  was  foretold  as  follows.  As  the  disciples  were  show- 
ing to  Jesus  the  stupendous  buildings  of  the  temple,  he 
answered :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  there  shall  not  be  left 
here  one  stone  upon  another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down?h 
Most  wonderfully  was  the  spirit  of  prophecy  manifested  in 
these  words.  Every  thing  conspired  to  make  the  events 
appear  improbable,  and  to  prevent  their  occurrence,  when 
the  time  predicted  had  arrived.  Jerusalem  was  surrounded 
with  three  massive  walls  of  immense  strength,  rendering  its 

*  Lukfi,  xix.  42.  t  Luke,  xxiii.  28,  29,  30.  t  Luke,  xix.  44. 

S  Matthew,  xxiv.  2. 


LECTURE    VIII.  235 

garrison  almost,  unassailable,  except  by  famine,  or  pestilence, 
or  internal  discord.*  Never  were  men  more  perfectly  de- 
voted to  the  defence  of  a  city  than  those  of  Jerusalem.  None 
cared  for  life  at  the  expense  of  her  ruin.  The  garrison  was 
ten  times  the  number  of  the  besiegers.  It  was,  therefore, 
exceedingly  improbable  that  the  city  would  even  be  entered 
by  the  Romans.  Such  was  the  testimony  of  Titus,  as  he 
looked  around  upon  its  towers.  "  We  have  certainly,"  said 
he,  "  had  God  for  our  helper  in  this  war.  It  is  God  who  has 
ejected  the  Jews  out  of  these  fortifications.  For  what  could 
the  hands  of  men,  or  any  machines,  do  towards  throwing 
down  such  fortifications.''!  But  it  was  equally  improbable, 
even  if  the  city  were  taken,  that  such  complete  destruction 
would  be  made  of  all  therein.  Think  of  the  difficulty  of 
completely  destroying  such  an  immense  extent  of  triple  wall, 
and  of  buildings  within.  Think  of  the  temple !  What  a 
pile  to  be  laid  low  !  Its  walls  enclosed  more  than  nineteen 
acres ;  that  of  the  eastern  front  rose  to  a  height  of  nearly 
eight  hundred  feet  from  its  base  in  the  valley  beneath.  In 
this,  and  the  other  walls,  the  stones  were  immense,  the  largest 
measuring  sixty-five  feet  in  length,  eight  in  height,  and  ten 
in  breadth.  How  great  the  difficulty  of  a  thorough  level- 
ling of  such  a  structure,  even  under  the  instigation  of  the 
strongest  motive  !  But  what  motive  was  likely  to  excite  the 
Romans  to  such  destruction  ?  They  prided  themselves  upon 
a  veneration  for  the  arts,  and  upon  the  sacred  care  with 
which,  in  all  their  conquests,  the  monuments  of  architectural 
taste  were  protected.  The  temple  was  emphatically  such  a 
monument.  The  immensity  of  its  walls ;  its  splendid  gates 
and  beautiful  marble  colonnades ;  the  glory  of  its  golden 
sanctuary;  the .  grandeur  of  its  whole  appearance;  and  all 

*  Gibbon,  speaking  of  the  strength  of  Jerusalem  at  this  time,  says:  "  The 
craggy  ground  might  supersede  the  necessity  of  fortifications,  and  her  walls 
and  towers  would  have  fortified  trie  most  accessible  plain." 

Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  viii.  c  Iviii.  p.  144. 

t  Wars,  b.  6,  c.  ix.  §  1. 


236  LECTURE    VIII. 

its  associations  of  antiquity  and  of  sacredness,  constituted 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem  precisely  such  an  object  as  Roman 
commanders  had  always  gloried  in  preserving  from  the  deso- 
lations of  conquest.  Even  barbarians  were  used  to  spare 
such  monuments  in  their  march  of  devastation.  Genseric, 
when,  with  his  Moors  and  Vandals,  he  had  sacked  the  city 
of  Rome,  spoiled  her  wealth  and  carried  away  the  ornaments 
of  her  temples  and  capitol,  but  spared  her  noble  structures  ;* 
and  to  this  day,  after  all  the  scenes  of  war  that  have  raged 
through  her  streets,  the  pillar  of  Trajan,  the  triumphal  arch 
of  Titus,  the  unmutilated  Pantheon,  and  the  noble  Colis- 
seum,  with  numerous  other  monuments  of  art,  attest  the 
ancient  glory  of  the  mistress  of  the  world.  How  often  have 
hostile  armies  filled  the  streets  of  Athens,  and  hordes  of 
Gothic  barbarians  encamped  amidst  her  sanctuaries ;  and 
yet  the  beautiful  temple  of  Theseus  is  scarcely  injured,  as 
a  model  of  architecture,  and  the  Parthenon,  though  defaced 
and  robbed,  remains,  a  noble  example  still  of  the  grandeur 
and  purity  of  Athenian  taste  in  the  age  of  Phidias  and  Peri- 
cles. How  improbable  then  must  it  have  seemed  to  one 
beholding  the  temple  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  that  Romans 
should  lay  it  even  with  the  ground.  Much  more  improbable, 
had  the  cultivated  taste,  and  the  mild,  amiable,  and  humane 
disposition  of  Titus,  their  commander,  been  anticipated. 
Still  more  improbable,  when  it  is  remembered  how  strongly 
tie  was  bent  upon  saving  the  city  and  temple  from  destruc- 
tion ;  how  he  employed  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  induce 
the  Jews  to  surrender,  before  such  extremities  were  neces- 
sary .t  When  he  had  reached  the  temple,  and  saw  the  danger 
it  was  in  of  being  sacrificed  to  the  obstinacy  of  its  defenders 
and  the  rage  of  his  own  soldiers,  he  was  "  deeply  affected," 
and  appealed  to  the  gods,  to  his  army,  and  to  the  Jews,  that 
ne  did  not  force  them  to  defile  the  holy  house.  "If  (said  he) 
you  will  change  the  place  whereon  you  will  fight,  no  Roman 

*  Gibbon,  v.  5. 

t  Wars,  &c.,  b.  5,  c.  viii.  §  1. — c.  ix.  §  2. — c.  xi.  5  2. — b.  6,  c.  ii.  §  1. 


LECTURE    VIII.  237 

shall  either  come  near  your  sanctuary,  or  offer  any  affront 
to  it;  nay,  I  will  endeavour  to  preserve  your  holy  house 
whether  you  will  or  not."*  But  the  Lord  of  that  temple  had 
said :  "  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."  God 
would  not  suffer  the  prophetic  words  of  his  son  to  return 
unto  him  void.  Now,  therefore,  even  the  authority  of  Titus 
was  of  no  avail  with  his  troops.  Now  the  discipline  of  the 
Roman  legion  was  broken  up  that  all  that  was  written  might 
be  fulfilled.  When  the  fire  first  reached  the  temple,  their 
commander  despatched  a  force  to  extinguish  it.  As  it  broke 
out  again,  he  again  used  his  authority  to  save  the  edifice. 
A  soldier,  disobeying  the  will  of  his  general,  threw  fire  into 
the  golden  window  of  the  inner  sanctuary.  At  this,  Titus, 
followed  by  all  his  chief  officers,  rushed  to  the  place,  and 
by  voice,  and  gesture,  and  force,  exerted  himself  most  ear- 
nestly to  prevail  with  his  troops  to  spare  the  building.  He 
ordered  a  centurion  to  punish  the  disobedient.  But  neither 
his  threatenings  nor  persuasions  could  arrest  their  fury.  At 
last,  a  soldier  taking  advantage  of  his  absence,  when  he  had 
gone  out  of  the  sanctuary  to  restrain  the  others,  "  threw  fire 
upon  the  holy  gate  in  the  dark ;  whereby  the  flame  burst  out 
from  within  the  holy  house  immediately ."t  And  thus  was 
it  devoured  by  the  fire.  And  now  orders  were  given  to 
demolish  to  the  foundation  the  whole  city  and  temple. 
Nothing  was  spared  of  the  former  but  three  towers,  and  so 
much  of  the  wall  as  was  required  for  a  shelter  to  the  garrison 
to  be  stationed  there.  "  As  for  all  the  rest  of  the  whole  cir- 
cumference of  the  city,  it  was  so  thoroughly  laid  even  with 
the  ground,  by  those  who  dug  it  up  to  the  foundation,  that 
there  was  nothing  left  to  make  those  who  came  thither  be- 
lieve it  had  ever  been  inhabited.''!  In  quest  of  plunder,  the 
soldiers  literally  turned  up  the  ground  on  which  the  city  and 
temple  had  stood,  searching  the  sewers  and  aqueducts.  Last 
of  all,  it  is  related  by  the  Jewish  Talmud  and  Maimonides,  that 

•  Wars,  b.  6,  c.  ii.  §  4.        t  Wars,  b.  6,  c.  iv.  §  2,  3,  4,  5,  &c. 
t  Wars,  b.  7,  c.  i.  §  1. 

20 


'^38  LECTURE    VIII. 

a  captain  of  the  army  of  Titus  (Terentius  Rufus),  "  did  with 
a  ploughshare  tear  up  the  foundations  of  the  temple."* 
"  A  ploughshare,"  says  Gibbon,  "  was  drawn  over  the  conse- 
crated ground,  as  a  sign  of  perpetual  interdiction."  Thus 
literally  fulfilling  that  prophecy  of  Micah  :  "  Therefore  shall 
Zion,  for  your  sakes,  be  ploughed  as  a  field,  and  Jerusalem 
become  heaps,  and  the  mountain  of  the  house  as  the  high 
places  of  the  forest."t  How  forcibly  is  the  perfect  fulfilment 
of  the  Saviour's  prediction  illustrated  in  the  speech  of  Elea- 
zer  to  a  remnant  of  Jews  in  the  city  of  Masada :  "  Where 
is  now  that  great  city,  fortified  by  so  many  walls,  and  for- 
tresses, and  towers ;  which  could  hardly  contain  the  instru- 
ments prepared  for  the  war,  and  had  so  many  ten  thousands 
of  men  to  defend  it  1  Demolished  to  the  very  foundations ; 
and  hath  nothing  left  but  the  camp  of  the  destroyers  among 
its  ruins ;  some  unfortunate  old  men  also  lie  upon  the  ashes 
of  the  temple,  and  a  few  women  are  there  preserved  alive, 
by  the  enemy,  for  our  bitter  shame  and  reproach."? 

XII.  But  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord  did  not  end  with  the 
destruction  of  the  city  and  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  polity 
of  the  Jews.  His  omniscient  eye  followed  the  unhappy  race 
in  their  subsequent  dispersions  and  afflictions.  "  They  shall 
fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  shall  be  led  away  captive 
into  all  nations"^  How  many  fell  by  the  edge  of  the  SAvord, 
in  fulfilment  of  these  words,  I  need  not  state.  Blood  flowed 
through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  like  a  river.  But  many  who 
escaped  the  sword  were  led  away  captive  into  various  parts 
of  the  earth.  Before  the  city  was  taken,  it  is  related  that  an 
"  immense  number"  of  deserters,  having  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  besiegers,  were  sold  "with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren." II  Besides  ninety-seven  thousand,  who  went  into  slavery 
from  Jerusalem  alone,  there  were  sent  from  Tarichea  to  Nero, 
six  thousand  choice  young  men,  while  thirty  thousand,  from 
the  same  place,  were  sold.  Similar  convoys  of  slaves  were 

*  Whitby  on  Mat.  xxiv.  2.      t  Mich.  iii.  12.     t  Wars,  b.  7,  c.  viii.  I  7. 
§  Luke,  xxi.  24.         II  Wars,  b.  6,  c.  viii.  §  2. 


LECTURE  VIII.  239 

marched  from  many  other  desolated  towns.  Of  the  captives 
from  Jerusalem,  the  tall  and  handsome  were  carried  to  Rome 
to  grace  the  triumphal  entry  of  Titus.  Of  the  remainder, 
many  were  sent  as  slaves  to  the  public  works  in  Egypt ;  but 
the  greater  number  were  distributed  through  the  Roman 
provinces,  literally  "  into  all  nations?  to  be  slain  by  gladia- 
tors, or  exposed  to  wild  beasts  in  the  shows  of  the  amphithea- 
tre. From  that  time  to  the  present,  the  history  of  all  the 
nations  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  is  filled  with  testimonies 
to  the  prophetic  spirit  of  him,  who,  when  Jerusalem  was  in 
peace  and  strength,  predicted  the  approaching  and  yet  existing 
calamities  of  her  sons.  In  what  country  of  the  world,  as 
then  known,  have  they  not  been  persecuted  and  enslaved  ? 

But  in  addition  to  the  captivity  of  the  people,  "  Jerusalem 
(saith  the  Lord)  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles  until 
the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  It  is  well  ascertained, 
by  corresponding  passages  of  the  Bible,  that  by  this  expres- 
sion, the  times  of  the  Gentiles  being  fulfilled,  was  intended 
the  universal  ingathering  of  the  nations  to  the  faith  of  Christ. 
This  has  not  yet  arrived.  Jerusalem  is  therefore  still  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles,  just  as  she  has  been,  ever  since  the 
ploughshare  of  the  Roman  desolation  was  first  driven  owr 
the  ruins  of  her  temple.  The  hand  of  Providence,  in  the 
uninterrupted  fulfilment  of  this  prediction  down  to  the  present 
time,  is  wonderfully  manifest.  Two  things  are  specially  to 
be  noted  in  the  prophecy :  First,  that  the  Jews  were  never  to 
be  re-established  in  Jerusalem ;  and  secondly,  that  it  was  not 
only  to  be  in  possession  of,  but  to  be  "  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles"  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  should  be  fulfilled. 
That  the  Jews  have  never  been  re-established  in  Jerusalem 
since  its  destruction,  has  not  been  owing  to  any  want  of 
desperate  effort  on  their  part ;  nor  because  the  power  of  tho 
Gentiles .  has  not  been  vigorously  employed  in  their  behalf. 
In  about  sixty-four  years  after  their  almost  total  expulsion 
from  Judea,  under  the  conquest  of  Titus;  Jerusalem  was 
partially  rebuilt  by  the  emperor  Adrian.  A  Roman  colony 


LKCTL'RE    VIII. 

was  settled  there,  and  all  Jews  were  forbidden,  on  pain  of 
death,  to  enter  therein,  or  even  to  look  at  the  city  from  a 
distance.  Soon  after  this,  the  Jews  revolted  with  great  fury, 
and  made  a  powerful  effort  to  recover  their  city  from  the 
heathen.  They  were  not  subdued  again  without  great  loss 
to  the  Romans,  and  immense  slaughter  among  themselves. 

In  the  reign  of  Constantino  the  Great,  their  effort  was  re- 
peated, and  terminated  as  before,  in  perfect  defeat,  with  in- 
creased massacre  and  oppression.  But  in  the  person  of  the 
nephew  of  Constantine,  their  zeal  for  the  rebuilding  of  their 
temple  was  associated  with  the  determination  of  the  emperor 
Julian  to  overthrow  Christianity ;  and  between  the  power  of 
a  Roman  sovereign  with  a  victorious  army  at  his  feet,  and 
the  exulting  enthusiasm  of  the  whole  remnant  of  the  Jewish 
people,  a  union  was  formed  for  the  single  object  of  rearing 
up  the  temple  with  its  ancient  ritual,  and  of  planting  around 
it  a  numerous  colony  of  Jews,  which,  to  all  human  judgment, 
bore  the  assurance  of  complete  success.  The  grand  object 
of  Julian  was  to  convert  "  the  success  of  his  undertaking  into 
a  specious  argument  against  the  faith  of  prophecy,  and  the 
truth  of  revelation."*  A  decree  was  issued  to  his  friend 
Alypins,  that  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  should  be  restored  in 
its  pristine  beauty.  To  the  energies  of  Alypius,  was  joined 
the  support  of  the  governor  of  Palestine.  At  the  call  of  the 
emperor,  the  Jews  from  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire  assem- 
bled in  triumphant  exultation  on  the  hills  of  Zion.  Their 
wealth,  strength,  time,  even  their  most  delicate  females,  were 
devoted  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm  to  the  preparation  of  the 
ground,  covered  then  with  rubbish  and  ruins.  But  was  the 
temple  rebuilt  ?  The  foundations  were  not  entirely  laid ! 
Why?  Was  force  deficient?  or  zeal,  or  wealth,  or  perse- 
verance, when  Roman  power  and  Jewish  desperation  were 
associated  ?  Nothing  was  lacking.  "  Yet  (says  Gibbon)  the 
joint  efforts  of  power  and  enthusiasm  were  unsuccessful,  and 
*he  ground  of  the  Jewish  temple  still  continued  to  exhibit  the 

*  Gibbon. 


LECTURE    VIII.  241 

same  edifying  spectacle  of  ruin  and  desolation."  There  was 
an  unseen  hand,  which  neither  Jews  nor  emperors  could 
overcome.  The  simple  account  of  the  defeat  of  this  threat- 
ening enterprise  of  infidelity  is  thus  given  by  a  heathen 
historian  of  the  day,  a  soldier  in  the  service,  and  a  philoso- 
pher in  the  principles  of  Julian.  "  Whilst  Alypius,  assisted 
by  the  governor  of  the  province,  urged  with  vigour  and  dili- 
gence the  execution  of  the  work,  horrible  balls  of  fire  break- 
ing out  near  the  foundation,  with  frequent  and  reiterated 
attacks,  rendered  the  place,  from  time  to  time,  inaccessible  to 
the  scorched  and  blasted  workmen ;  and  the  victorious  ele 
ment  continuing  in  this  manner  obstinately  and  resolutely 
bent,  as  it  were,  to  drive  them  to  a  distance,  the  undertaking 
was  abandoned."*  "  Such  authority  should  satisfy  a  believ- 
ing, and  must  astonish  an  incredulous  mind"  acknowledges 
even  the  sceptical  Gibbon.  He  cannot  but  own  that  "  an 
earthquake,  a  whirlwind,  and  a  fiery  eruption,  which  over- 
turned and  scattered  the  new  foundations  of  the  temple,  are 
attested,  with  some  variations,  by  contemporary  and  respecta- 
ble evidence."  One  writer,  who  published  an  account  of 
this  wonderful  catastrophe,  in  the  very  year  of  its  occurrence, 
boldly  declared,  says  Gibbon,  that  its  preternatural  character 
was  not  disputed,  even  by  the  infidels  of  the  day.\  Another 
speaks  of  it  thus :  "  We  ar  3  witnesses  of  it ;  for  it  happened 
in  our  time,  not  long  ago.  And  now,  if  you  should  go  to 
Jerusalem,  you  may  see  the  foundations  open  ;  and  if  you 
inquire  the  reason,  you  will  hear  no  other  than  that  just 
mentioned."* 

Whether  this  attempt  of  Julian  was  defeated  by  miraculous 
interposition,  is  a  question  which  our  present  object  does  not 
require  us  to  argue. §  Two  things  are  certain.  First :  That 
the  power  and  wealth  of  the  Gentiles  were  united  with  the 

*  Ammianus  Marcellinus.     t  Gibbon's  Dec.  and  Fall,  vol.  iii.  chap,  xxiii. 
t  Chrysostom.     See  Lardner,  iv.  324. 

§  See  the  miraculous  character  of  tnis  event  very  ably  advocated  "m  Bishop 
Warburton's  Julian. 


242 


LECTURE    VIII. 


devoted  enthusiasm  of  the  Jews,  to  defeat  the  prophecy  of 
Christ,  by  rebuilding  the  temple,  and  by  re-establishing  its 
ritual,  and  by  reorganizing  a  Jewish  population  as  possessors 
of  Jerusalem.  Secondly :  That  contrary  to  all  expectation, 
when  nothing  was  lacking  for  the  work,  and  none  in  the 
world  lifted  a  finger  against  it,  it  was  suddenly  abandoned, 
on  account  of  sundry  alarming  and  singular  phenomena 
bursting  from  the  original  site  of  the  temple,  by  which  even 
the  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  was  deterred,  and  the  enmity  of 
Julian  to  the  gospel,  defeated.  These  undeniable  facts  are 
sufficient  to  show,  with  impressive  evidence,  the  hand  of  God, 
protecting  the  prophetic  character  of  our  Lord.  When,  in 
connexion  with  these,  you  consider  the  great  anxiety  so 
universally  felt  among  the  Jews  of  all  centuries,  to  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  living  and  dying  in  Jerusalem ;  that  no  risk  of 
life,  or  sacrifice  of  property,  would  be  thought  too  great  for 
the  purpose  of  once  more  setting  up  the  gates  and  altars  of 
the  holy  city  ;  that  the  nation  is  now  as  numerous  as  at  any 
period  of  its  ancient  glory  ;  and  yet  that  during  almost  the 
whole  period  since  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  so  entirely 
have  Jews  been  prevented  from  living  on  her  foundations, 
that  they  have  had  to  purchase,  dearly,  the  permission  to 
come  within  sight  of  her  nills ;  and  to  this  day  are  taxed 
and  oppressed  to  the  dust/  as  the  cost  of  being  allowed  to  walk 
her  streets,  and  look,  at  a  distance,  upon  her  mount  Moriah ; 
you  will  acknowledge  that  th«  prediction  of  our  Saviour,  in 
reference  to  their  exclusion  from  Jerusalem,  has  been  not 
only  most  strikingly  fulfilled,  but  fulfilled  in  spite  of  the  most 
powerful  causes  and  efforts  for  its  defeat. 

But  it  was  predicted  that  Jerusalem  should  not  only  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  Gentiles,  but  "trodden  down"  by  them,  till  their 
times  should  be  fulfilled.  What  the  soldiers  of  Titus  did, 
has  already  been  stated.  From  that  time,  during  sixty-four 
years,  a  Roman  garrison  alone  inhabited  the  ruins.  At  the 
end  of  these  years,  the  city  was  rebuilt  by  the  emperor  Adrian, 
under  the  name  of  (Elia;  a  Roman  colony  was  planted 


LECTURE  VIII.  243 

there ;  all  Jews  were  banished  on  pain  of  death ;  every 
measure  was  used  to  destroy  sacred  recollections,  and  dese- 
crate what  were  esteemed  as  holy  places.  The  city  was 
consecrated  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus  ;  a  temple  was  erected  to 
the  pagan  god,  over  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus,  a  statue  of  Venus 
was  set  up  on  mount  Calvary ;  and  the  figure  of  a  swine, 
placed  in  marble  on  the  gate  that  looked  towards  Bethlehem. 
Jerusalem  continued  in  possession  of  the  Roman  emperors 
till  subdued  in  the  year  637  A.  D.  by  the  Saracens.  The 
king  of  Persia  had,  in  the  mean  while,  besieged  and  plundered 
it,  but  his  dominion  was  too  short-lived  to  claim  an  excep- 
tion from  this  statement.*  In  the  hands  of  Mohamme- 
dans, sometimes  of  Arabian,  sometimes  of  Turkish,  and 
sometimes  of  Egyptian  origin,  it  continued  to  be  literally 
trampled  down  and  desecrated,  during  a  period  of  more  than 
four  hundred  years ;  when  having  been  taken  by  the  crusa- 
ders, its  government  was  assumed  by  one  of  their  leaders, 
and  Christians  alone  were  allowed  to  dwell  therein.  Only 
about  eighty-eight  years  elapsed,  however,  before  the  cres- 
cent of  Mohammed  was  again  planted  upon  the  hill  of  Zion ; 
where  to  this  day,  it  has  remained,  with  a  single  trifling 
exception,  undisturbed  either  by  Jew  or  Christian.  During 
the  seven  centuries  of  this  uninterrupted  dominion  of  Ma- 
hommedanism,  Jerusalem  has  been  captured  and  recaptured, 
again  and  again  by  the  various  contending  families  and  fac- 
tions of  the  followers  of  the  Arabian  prophet.  The  desola- 
tions of  war ;  the  marches  of  contending  hosts,  have  indeed 
"trodden  down"  her  melancholy  hills.  In  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  Selim,  the  ninth  emperor  of  the  Turks,  visited 
the  city,  it  lay,  just  as  it  had  been  seen  by  the  famous  Tamer- 
lane more  than  one  hundred  years  before,  "miserably  deform- 
ed and  ruined,"  inhabited  only  by  a  few  Christians,  who 
paid  a  large  tribute  to  the  sultan  of  Egypt  for  the  possession 
of  the  holy  sepulchre."!  Its  condition  still,  is  thus  stated  byJ 

*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  vi.  p.  206,  c.  xlvi. 
t  Newton  on  Prophecy,  ii.  319 — 334. 


244  LECTURE   VIII. 

a  recent  traveller :  "  At  every  step,  coming  out  of  the  city, 
the  heart  is  reminded  of  that  prophecy,  accomplished  to  the 
letter:  l  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  dmcn  of  tlie  Gentiles.1 
All  the  streets  are  wretchedness ;  and  the  houses  of  the 
Jews  more  especially  (the  people  who  once  held  a  sceptre  on 
this  mountain  of  holiness)  are  as  dunghills."  "  No  expres- 
sion could  have  been  invented  more  descriptive  of  the  visible 
state  of  Jerusalem,  than  this  single  phrase,  '  trodden  down?  w 
"  Not  a  creature  is  to  be  seen  in  the  streets,"  says  another 
traveller,  "  not  a  creature  at  the  gates,  except,  now  and  then, 
a  peasant  gliding  through  the  gloom,  concealing  under  his 
garments  the  fruits  of  his  labour,  lest  he  should  be  robbed  of 
his  hard  earnings  by  the  rapacious  soldier.  The  only  noise 
heard  from  time  to  time,  in  the  city,  is  the  galloping  of  the 
steed  of  the  desert."t  "  The  Jerusalem  of  sacred  history  is, 
in  fact,  no  more.  Not  a  vestige  remains  of  the  capital  of 
David  and  Solomon ;  not  a  monument  of  Jewish  times  is 
standing.  The  very  course  of  the  walls  is  changed,  and  the 
boundaries  of  the  ancient  city  are  become  doubtful."! 

Thus,  during  a  period  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty 
years,  have  the  captivities,  and  dispersions,  and  oppressions 
if  the  Jewish  people,  together  with  the  desolate  condition  of 
their  city  and  temple,  most  signally  attested  the  prophetic 
character  of  our  Lord.  And  shall  we  not  hence  be  confident 
that  what  remains  of  his  prediction  will  be  accomplished? 
Will  not  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled  7  Will  not 
Jerusalem  continue,  until  then,  to  be  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles  ?  And  then,  will  it  not  cease  to  be  subject  to  them  ? 
And  does  not  the  expression  of  the  prophecy  imply  that  it 
will  be  again  rebuilt  and  possessed  by  the  Jews  in  the  day 
when  "all  Israel  shall  be  saved?"  "For  what  reason  can 
we  believe  that,  though  they  are  dispersed  among  all  nations, 
yet  by  a  constant  miracle,  they  are  kept  distinct  from  all,  but 
for  the  further  manifestation  of  God's  purposes  towards 

*  Jowett's  Researches,  p.  200.  t  Chateaubriand, 

t  Modem  Traveller,  Palestine,  75. 


LECTURE    VIII.  245 

them  ?  The  prophecies  have  been  accomplished  to  the  greatest 
exactness,  in  the  destruction  of  their  city,  and  its  continuing 
still  subject  to  strangers ;  in  the  dispersion  of  their  people, 
and  their  living  still  separate  from  all  people;  and  why 
should  not  the  remaining  parts  of  the  same  prophecies  be  as 
fully  accomplished  in  their  restoration,  at  the  proper  season, 
when  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  fulfilled  ?"* 

We  have  now  exhibited  the  exact  fulfilment  of  all  the  par- 
ticulars of  this  remarkable  prophecy,  with  one  exception. 
The  Lord  specified  the  time  of  those  great  events  which  he 
so  minutely  foretold.  "  This  generation  shall  not  pass  away 
till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled."  Forty  years  had  not 
elapsed  from  the  date  of  this  prediction,  before  all  things 
referred  to  in  it  had  taken  place. 

And  now  let  me  add  but  a  few  words  in  conclusion. 

No  charge  can  be  brought  against  the  prophecy  which  we 
have  been  exhibiting,  on  the  score  of  obscurity  or  ambigu  - 
ousness  of  expression.  It  is  expressed  in  the  plainest  terms, 
and  admits  of  but  one  interpretation.  Nothing  can  be  said 
in  detraction  from  its  claim  to  inspiration,  on  the  ground  of  its 
being  general  in  its  expression.  It  is  singularly  particular, 
as  well  as  comprehensive.  Nothing  can  be  said  in  denial 
of  the  complete  correspondence  between  these  various  pre- 
dictions arid  the  history  of  the  times  and  places  to  which 
they  refer.  We  have  drawn  the  evidence  from  sources  which 
cannot  be  suspected  of  any  partiality  to  the  prophetic  cha- 
racter of  Jesus.  The  History  of  the  Wars  of  the  Jews  by 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  priest ;  the  Annals  by  Tacitus,  a  Roman 
consul ;  and  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  by  Gibbon,  the  English  sceptic,  are  all  the 
vouchers  we  require.  What,  then,  is  the  alternative  to 
which  the  student  of  prophecy  is  reduced?  He  must  either 
acknowledge  that  Jesus  was  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  genuine 
prophecy;  or  that  he  was  so  sagacious  as  to  be  able  to  fore 
tell  all  these  particulars,  when  no  one  else  could  see  any  sign 

*  Newton,  ii.  336. 


246  LECTURE  VIII. 

of  them ;  or  thai  the  Gospels  containing  these  predictions 
were  written  after  the  events.  The  first  the  sceptic  is  re- 
solved at  all  hazards  to  deny ;  the  second  he  cannot  suppose  ; 
the  last  he  must  assert  or  give  up  his  cause.  For  the  same 
reason,  therefore,  that  the  heathen  Porphyry,  when  he  could 
not  deny  the  strict  correspondence  between  the  prophecies  of 
Daniel  and  the  subsequent  history  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  rather 
than  confess  that  Daniel  was  a  prophet,  contradicted  every 
principle  of  historical  testimony  for  the  sake  of  pretending 
that  he  must  have  written  after  the  occurrence  of  what  he 
foretold.  So  have  some  modern  Porphyries  been  driven  to 
assert  that  the  Evangelists  who  relate  this  prophecy  of  Jeru- 
salem must  have  written  after  the  city  was  destroyed.*  I 
need  not  say  that,  the  only  reason  pretended  to  in  support  of 
this  assertion  is  the  very  thing  we  have  been  labouring  to 
show,  the  strict  agreement  between  the  propJiecy  and  the 
event.  Their  argument  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  fol- 
lowing :  If  these  words  were  written  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  Jesus  was  a  genuine  prophet.  But  we  will  not 
believe  him  to  have  been  a  genuine  prophet.  Therefore 
these  words  were  not  written  before  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem. A  conclusion  as  shameless  as  it  is  senseless ;  as  oppo- 
site to  the  faith  of  all  history  as  to  the  rules  of  all  sound 
criticism,  and  the  opinion  of  the  learned  of  all  ages.  It 
shows  the  strength  of  the  argument  from  prophecy,  as  well 
as  the  infatuated  obstinacy  with  which  the  human  heart  is 
capable  of  resisting  whatever  would  bind  it  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
with  its  signs  and  tribulations,  is  set  in  the  scriptures  as  a 
type  of  an  unspeakably  more  awful  and  momentous  event — 
THE  END  OP  THE  WORLD.  A  day  cometh  when  "  the  sun 
shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  and 
the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the  hea- 
vens shall  be  shaken :  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the 

*  Voltaire. — Watsnn's  An.  fiw  iSiUA.  Ifif). 


LECTURE  VIII. 

son  of  man  in  heaven :  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall 
send  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they 
shall  gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one 
end  of  heaven  to  the  other."*  When  that  day  shall  arise 
on  the  world,  knoweth  no  man.  One  thing  we  know,  that 
it  will  find  us  just  as  death  shall  find  us.  Death,  to  each  of 
us,  will  be  virtually  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man.  Then 
our  eternal  state  will  be  sealed.  Therefore  doth  wisdom 
utter  her  voice :  O  ye  sons  of  men,  prepare  to  meet  your 
God  !  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man 
cometh.  Watch  !  walk  as  children  of  light.  Embrace  the 
promises  of  the  gospel,  and  live  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord  !  "  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he 
cometh,  shall  find  so  doing." 

POSTSCRIPT. 

The  following  remarks  on  the  subject  of  chance,  in  connexion  with  prophecy, 
though  in  a  measure  anticipated  in  the  quotation  from  Dr.  Gregory,  at  the  end 
of  the  last  lecture,  are  too  valuable  to  be  omitted,  and  constitute  a  most  appro- 
priate supplement  to  all  that  has  been  said  on  this  most  interesting  branch  of 
the  evidences  of  Christianity.  They  have  been  kindly  prepared,  at  the  request 
of  the  author,  by  a  friend  and  parishioner,  who  finds  no  incompatibility  be- 
tween a  supreme  devotion  of  himself  to  the  faith  and  service  of  Christ,  and 
an  eminent  proficiency  in  mathematical  and  other  human  sciences.  . 

"  The  argument  from  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  which  appears  so  strong 
and  conclusive  in  its  affirmative  aspect,  is  no  less  so  when  the  negative  mode 
of  reasoning  is  adopted.  We  may  waive,  for  example,  the  idea  of  a  divine 
intelligence  operating  in  the  annunciation  and  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  and 
attempt  to  account  for  the  facts  mentioned  in  some  other  way.  But  upon 
what  other  principle  can  we  account  for  them!  The  prophetic  scheme  is  evi- 
dently too  vast  and  multifarious  for  human  agency ;  and  this  excluded,  there 
remains  only  the  hypothesis  of  chance-—  the  negation  of  all  intelligence,  human 
and  divine.  The  law  of  events,  under  this  supposition,  is  the  same  as  that  by 
which  probabilities  are  calculated  in  some  of  the  pursuits  and  occupations  of 
life ;  and  an  argument  on  this  point,  therefore,  resolves  itself  into  a  mere 
application  of  the  theory  of  probabilities  to  the  subjects  of  prophecy.  If  it 
result  from  such  application  that  the  fulfilment  was  an  event  to  be  calculated 
upon  with  some  degree  of  reasonableness,  independently  of  any  intelligent 

*  Mat.  xxiv.  29,  30,  31 


248  LECTURE   Vlll. 

supervision,  then  are  we  at  liberty  to  adopt  the  philosophy  of  chance;  bui 
otherwise  we  are  bound  to  reject  it. 

"  The  laws  of  chance,  applicable  to  the  case,  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows: 
When  circumstances  seem  to  determine  an  event  equally,  in  two  different 
ways,  the  chances  are  said  to  be  equal;  and  the  expectation  of  either  result  is 
expressed,  with  evident  truth,  by  the  fraction  1-2.  But  when  the  determining 
circumstances  are  unequally  divided,  so  that  any  proportion,  more  or  less  than 
half  of  the  whole  number,  operates  in  favour  of  a  particular  result,  the  chance 
of  that  result  is  expressed  by  the  corresponding  fraction.  If  a  ball,  for  exam- 
ple, is  to  be  drawn  from  a  bag  containing  equal  numbers  of  white  and  black, 
the  probability  of  a  white  one  being  drawn  is  expressed  numerically  by  1-2 ; 
but  if  there  be  only  one  fifth  of  the  whole  number  white,  the  ratio  of  expecta- 
tion will  be  1-5,  and  so  for  any  other  proportion:  and  this  is  the  general  law 
of  simple  probability. 

"  The  probability  of  a  joint  occurrence,  when  two  independent  events  are 
expected,  is  determined  by  the  product  of  their  simple  ratios ;  for  there  must 
evidently  be,  in  this  case,  a  whole  range  of  possible  results,  a$  regards  one 
event,  corresponding  to  each  possible  result  of  the  other  ;  and  by  a  parity  of 
reasoning,  the  same  truth  is  made  evident  for  any  number  of  events  jointly 
considered.  If  balls,  for  example,  are  to  be  drawn  concurrently  from  two  or 
more  bags,  containing  different  proportions  of  black  and  white,  the  probability 
of  the  whole  result  being  while  will  be  found  in  the  compound  ratio  of  all  those 
proportions:  thus,  if  one  contains  1-2  white,  another  l-5th,  another  l-8th,  and 
another  l-10th,  there  will  be  one  chance  in  800  that,  in  drawing  one  ball  from 
each,  the  whole  four  will  be  white ;  and  this  is  the  general  law  of  compound 
probability. 

"  With  these  premises  let  us  open  the  book  of  prophecy,  and  select  an  ex- 
ample from  among  the  various  remarkable  events  there  predicted.  We  choose 
one  of  so  extraordinary  a  character  as  to  place  it  among  the  most  improbable 
event*  (humanly  speaking)  of  any  age  or  nation;  but  to  be  quite  sure  that 
we  do  not  over-estimate  it,  we  suppose  it  to  have  an  equal  chance  of  general 
fulfilment;  expressed,  as  we  have  said,  by  the  fraction  1-2.  This  does  not, 
however,  include  the  particularities  of  time  and  place,  both  of  which  are  com- 
prehended in  the  terms  of  the  prediction.  With  regard  to  time,  we  observe, 
that  as  there  is  no  natural  circumstance  to  determine  the  event  spoken  of  to 
one  age  or  period  more  than  another,  the  probability  of  exact  fulfilment  in  this 
respect  must  be  inversely  as  the  whole  number  of  ages  in  which  it  might  have 
taken  place.  This,  if  we  allow  forty  years  for  the  average  duration  of  an 
age,  is  about  sixty ;  and  the  fraction  l-60th,  therefore,  expresses  the  contingency 
of  time  in  the  case  supposed.  With  regard  to  place,  the  probability  of  exact 
fulfilment  is  evidently  determined  by  the  relation  of  the  locality  named  to  the 
wnoie  world.  This,  in  the  case  referred  to,  is  not  greater  than  that  of  one  to 
100,000;  and  the  fraction  1-100,000,  therefore,  is  the  numerical  factor  for  this 
element  of  probability.  Combining  these  three  ratios,  we  obtain  an  aggre- 
gate of  no  less  than  twelve  millions  of  chances  against  the  fulfilment  of  Hit 


LECTURE    VIII. 


219 


assumed  event  at  the  time  and  place  designated ;  and  this  event  is  the  personal 
appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

"  Remarkably  associated  with  this  appearance  in  many  ancient  predictions, 
was  the  continuance  of  the  Jewish  dominion,  and  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem ; 
the  joint  contingency  of  which,  according  to  the  principles  explained,  cannot 
be  rated  at  less  than  l-340th.  A  multitude  of  predictions  are  found,  also,  in 
various  parts  of  scripture,  relative  to  extraordinary  particulars  in  the  life, 
character,  and  death,  of  our  Saviour,  as  well  as  with  reference  to  the  political 
and  social  aspect  of  the  times  in  which  he  appeared.  Many  of  them  are  so 
nearly  miraculous  in  their  nature,  or  so  minute  and  circumstantial  in  their 
details,  as  almost  to  preclude  the  idea  of  chance  in  any  sense.  And  we  are 
very  sure,  therefore,  that  we  do  not  assume  too  much  in  assigning  to  twenty 
of  them  an  average  equal  chance  of  non-occurrence.  Proceeding  upon  this 
ground,  we  find  the  probability  of  their  joint  occurrence  opposed  by  a  disparity 
of  more  than  a  million  of  chances  to  one ;  and  it  results  from  the  combination 
of  all  the  ratios  thus  found,  that  the  advent  of  our  Saviour,  in  all  its  characte- 
ristic circumstances  and  relations,  could  not  have  been  calculated  upon  as  a 
matter  of  fortuitous  occurrence,  with  more  than  one  in  four  thousand  millions 
of  millions  of  chances.  The  term  probability  can  scarcely  be  applied  with 
propriety  to  a  case  so  very  remote;  but  the  argument  does  not  stop  here. 

"  Our  Saviour,  at  a  time  when  all  the  calculations  of  human  forethought 
were  diametrically  opposed  to  him,  predicted  the  general  dissemination  of  his 
gospel,  and  the  consummation  of  prophecy  with  regard  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  in  the  short  space  of  a  single  generation:  and  so  it  turned  out.  By 
the  laws  of  probability,  neither  event  had,  at  the  utmost,  more  than  one 
chance  in  ninety  of  occurring  at  that  particular  time ;  and  there  was,  there- 
fore, only  one  in  8,100  of  their  joint  occurrence. 

"  The  predictions  relative  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  tne  subjugation  of 
Judea,  and  the  dispersion  and  subsequent  condition  of  the  Jews,  present  many 
particulars  equally  remarkable  in  character  and  fulfilment  We  select  twenty 
four,  which  have  severally  a  degree  of  probability  not  greater  than  1-2,  and 
the  result  is  an  aggregate  of  nearly  seventeen  millions  of  chances  opposed  to 
their  joint  occurrence. 

"  The  predictions  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  relative  to  the  state  and 
condition  of  the  church  in  various  ages,  and  its  influence  upon  the  moral  and 
political  welfare  of  mankind,  furnish  another  class  of  particulars  which  have 
been  singularly  verified.  The  individual  probability  of  most  of  them  would 
be  much  less  than  1-2;  but  we  concede  this,  and  limit  ourselves  to  twelve 
points,  the  aggregate  contingency  of  which  is  about  l-4000th. 

"Finally,  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  relative  to  the  Gentile 
nations  around  Judea,  and  the  great  empires  Nineveh,  Babylon,  Tyre,  Egypt, 
&c.,  present  about  fifty  particulars  worthy  of  notice  in  this  calculation.  To 
avoid,  however,  all  possibility  of  error,  we  consider  only  half  that  number, 
from  which  we  deduce  the  expectation  of  their  united  fulfilment  in  about  the 
ratio  of  one  to  thirty-three  millions. 

21 


250  LECTURE  VIII. 

"  There  remains  still  a  vast  number  of  correlative  and  circumstantial  details, 
not  reducible  to  any  of  the  foregoing  heads,  which  are  found  scattered  through 
the  pages  of  scripture,  and  furnish  a  "  thick  array"  of  corroborative  evidence 
for  the  affirmative  view  of  the  subject;  but  we  need  not  fear  to  waive  the  use 
of  them  in  the  present  calculation.  The  composition  of  the  ratios  already 
determined  gives  an  aggregate  which  it  requires  nearly  forty  places  of  figures 
to  enumerate,  and  which  the  utmost  powers  of  the  human  mind  may  vainly 
attempt  to  appreciate.  If  we  should  even  assume  a  single  grain  of  sand  for 
the  numerator  of  the  fraction,  the  whole  globe  of  the  earth,  repealed  many 
millions  of  times,  would  scarcely  suffice  for  its  denominator;  and  such  is  the 
extreme  improbability  of  any  consistent  fulfilment  of  the  scriptural  prophecies 
on  the  principles  of  chance. 

"  It  will  not  be  objected  to  this  calculation  that  it  regards  the  different  sub- 
jects of  prophecy  as  parts  of  one  and  the  same  system;  for  although  they 
were  in  fact  uttered  by  different  prophets  and  in  diffierent  ages  of  the  world, 
they  are  all  united  by  a  common  subject;  and  that  with  a  degree  of  consistency 
and  harmony  scarcely  less  wonderful  than  the  fulfilment  itself." 


LECTURE  IX.  251 


LECTURE    IX. 

THE      PROPAGATION      OP     CHRISTIANITY. 

THERE  is  a  peculiarity  in  the  argument  for  the  divine 
authority  of  Christianity,  which  we  cannot  but  notice  in  the 
commencement  of  this  lecture.  While  the  several  parts  unite 
with  the  utmost  harmony  and  prodigious  strength  in  the 
construction  of  one  grand  system  of  evidence  ;  each  is  a 
perfect  argument  in  itself,  and  capable  of  furnishing,  had  we 
nothing  else  on  which  to  depend,  an  ample  support  for  the ' 
whole  fabric  of  Christianity.  We  speak  of  the  several  parts 
composing  that  general  division  to  which  these  lectures  are 
restricted — the  external  evidence— such  as  the  miracles  ;  the 
prophecies ;  and  that  on  which  we  are  now  about  to  enter, 
llie propagation  of  Christianity.  The  two  former  have  been 
discussed.  We  praise  the  subject,  not  the  lecturer,  in  saying 
that  we  have  not  only  established  on  solid  ground  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  and  the  prophetic 
attestation  to  the  divine  mission  of  our  Lord ;  but  that,  in 
having  done  thus,  we  have  twice  finished  the  proof  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  a  divine  revelation.  It  was  complete  when  we 
had  shown  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  attended  by  the 
credentials  of  genuine  miracles.  It  was  commenced  again 
and  completed  a  second  time,  and  by  a  course  of  argument 
entirely  different,  when  we  had  shown  that  Jesus  was  a 
prophet,  as  well  as  the  great  subject  of  prophecy.  We  are 
now  to  begin  anew,  hoping  to  prove  a  third  time,  and  by  a 
coarse  of  evidence  entirely  different  from  either  of  the  pre- 
ceding, that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  none  other  than  "  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  Our  argument  will  be 
drawn  from  the  rapid  propagation  of  the  gospel,  in  contrast 
with  the  difficulties  it  had  to  overcome. 


252  LECTURE   IX. 

It  was  only  forty  days  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that 
he  delivered  to  his  little  band  of  apostles  the  parting  charge : 
"  Go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture." "  Go,  teach  (or  disciple)  all  nations,  baptizing-  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost"  In  other  words  ;  Go,  carry  the  war  of  the  truth 
into  the  midst  of  its  enemies ;  think  not  your  work  com- 
pleted till  you  have  planted  the  cross  upon  the  high  places 
of  the  heathen,  and  have  gathered  together  my  elect  "  from 
the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other."  Such 
was  the  work  intrusted  to  those  few,  unlearned,  despised 
disciples,  who  formed  almost  the  whole  strength  of  the 
Christian  church  in  the  day  when  their  beloved  Master  was 
received  out  of  their  sight,  and  ascended  into  heaven.  Now 
let  us  consider  in  the  first  division  of  this  lecture : 

I.  THE  DIFFICULTIES  they  had  to  surmount  in  executing 
this  command.  Be  it  remarked, 

1st.  In  the  first  place,  that  the  idea  of  propagating  a 
new  religion,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other,  was  at  that 
time  a  perfect  novelty  to  all  mankind,  with  the  exception  of, 
perhaps,  a  few  individuals  of  the  Jews,  specially  enlightened 
in  the  prophetic  declarations  of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures. 
The  Jewish  religion  was,  indeed,  sufficiei  tly  exclusive;  but 
in  its  external  organization  it  was  neither  designed  nor  adapt- 
ed for  extensive  promulgation.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  perfectly  foreign  to  all  the  reigning  opinions,  prejudices, 
and  dispositions  of  that  insulated  nation,  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  than  the  thought  of  attempting  to  convert  even  a 
single  city  of  the  Gentiles  to  their  unsocial  system  of  reli- 
gion. Their  zeal  was  indeed  extremely  energetic  in  behalf 
of  whatever  involved  the  security  and  honour  of  their  faith ; 
but,  in  regard  to  other  nations,  it  was  the  zeal  of  jealousy  to 
keep  them  at  a  great  distance,  rather  than  of  invitation  to 
bring  them  to  a  participation  in  their  superior  privileges. 

The  charge  of  the  Saviour  to  his  apostles  was.  if  possible, 
still  more  novel  to  the  Gentiles  than  the  Jews.  Heathenism 


LECTURE    IX.  253 

IO  -..vjver  been  propagated  from  place  to  place.  In  its  innu- 
meiVble  forms,  it  had  grown  up  out  of  the  depraved  disposi- 
tions of  human  nature,  all  over  the  world ;  as  thorns  and 
thistles,  though  never  sown  by  the  husbandman,  are  found 
every  where  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Without  a  creed,  it 
was  without  principle ;  and  therefore  had  nothing  to  contend 
for  but  the  privilege  of  assuming  any  form,  worshipping  any 
idol,  practising  any  ritual,  and  pursuing  any  absurdity,  which 
the  craft  of  the  priesthood,  or  the  superstitions  and  vices  of 
the  people  might  select.  It  never  was  imagined  by  any  de- 
scription of  Pagans  that  all  other  forms  of  religion  were  not 
as  good,  for  the  people  observing  them,  as  theirs  was  for 
them  ;  or  that  any  dictate  of  kindness  or  common  sense 
should  lead  them  to  attempt  the  subversion  of  the  gods  of 
their  neighbours,  for  the  sake  of  establishing  their  own  in 
their  stead.  So  that  nothing  could  have  been  more  perfectly 
new,  surprising,  or  offensive  to  the  whole  Gentile  world,  than 
the  duty  laid  upon  the  first  advocates  of  Christianity,  to  go 
into  all  nations,  asserting  the  exclusive  claims  of  the  gospel, 
denouncing  the  validity  of  all  other  religions,  ana  'abouring 
to  bring  over  every  creature  to  the  single  faith  of  Christ. 
Had  Christianity  been  content  to  stand,  without  urging  its 
right  to  stand  alone,  the  heathen  nations  might  have  allowed 
it  as  much  toleration  as  they  were  accustomed  to  yield  to  the 
various  systems  of  idolatry  _among  themselves.  An  altar 
would,  perhaps,  have  been  vouchsafed,  in  many  an  idol 
temple,  to  the  Christian's  God ;  and  an  image,  in  honour  of 
Christ,  might  have  been  permitted  a  place  among  the  divini- 
ties of  the  Pantheon.  But  its  character  being  rigidly  exclu- 
sive, and  yet  its  spirit  universally  benevolent,  the  apostles 
must  have  seen  at  once  that  they  were  charged  with  a  work 
not  only  perfectly  new,  but  which  would  necessarily  bring 
them  into  conflict  with  all  the  institutions,  passions,  customs, 
prejudices,  and  powers  of  all  nations  of  the  world.* 

*  A  religion,  under  which  all  men  could  unite  with  one  another,  appeared 
to  the  ancier.ta  an  impossibility.     "  A  man  must  be  very  weak  (said  Celsus;, 


2.V1 


LECTURE    IX. 


2<1.  But  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  by  the  apostles 
were  not  confined  to  the  novelty  of  their  enterprise,  and  the 
t.'xclusiveness  of  their  faith.  In  the  whole  character  of  the 
gospel,  as  a  system  of  religious  doctrine,  and  a  rule  of  heart 
and  life,  there  was  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  its  progress,  which 
to  human  wisdom  and  power  would  have  rendered  their  cause 
perfectly  desperate.  To  propagate  any  religion  at  the  ex- 
pense of  every  other,  would  have  been  to  them,  in  their  own 
strength,  destitute  as  they  were  of  all  earthly  auxiliaries,  a 
hopeless  task ;  but  to  propagate  the  religion  of  the  gospel, 
was  unspeakably  more  difficult.  A  system  of  doctrine  par- 
taking, in  the  least  degree,  of  any  of  its  characteristic  quali- 
ties, was  a  thing  entirely  unimagined  among  the  Heathen, 
and  scarcely  thought  of,  by  one  in  ten  thousand  of  the 
degenerate  posterity  of  Abraham.  Religion,  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, was  a  creature  of  the  state  ;  it  consisted  exclusively  in 
the  outward  circumstance  of  temples,  and  altars,  arid  images, 
and  priests,  and  sacrifices,  and  festivals,  and  lustrations.  It 
multiplied  its  objects  of  worship  at  the  pleasure  of  the  civil 
authorities;  taught  no  system  of  doctrine,  recognised  no 
system  of  morality,  required  nothing  of  the  heart,  committed 
the  life  of  man  to  unlimited  discretion,  and  allowed  any  one 
to  stand  perfectly  well  with  the  gods,  on  the  trifling  condition 
of  a  little  show  of  respect  for  their  worship,  to  whatever 
extent  he  indulged  in  the  worst  passions  and  lowest  pro- 
pensities of  his  nature.  Heathen  religion,  in  all  its  forms, 
was  the  most  perfect  contrast  to  every  thing  spiritual,  holy, 
humbling,  self-denying.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
foreign  to  every  habit  of  thought,  in  the  mind  of  a  native 
of  Greece  or  Rome,  than  the  scripture  doctrine  of  the  nature 
and  guilt  of  sin,  of  repentance,  conversion,  faith,  love,  meek- 
ness, and  purity  of  heart.  Their  languages  had  scarcely 
expressions  sufficiently  approximated  to  these  subjects  to 
admit  of  their  explanation  without  the  coinage  of  new  words 

to  imagine  that  Greeks  and  barbarians,  in  Asia,  Europe,  and  Lybia,  can  evei 
iniu-  ,.trW  tb~  sr.r>i"  system  of  religion  " 


LECTURE    IX. 


255 


for  the  purpose.  And  in  many  respects  the  whole  race  of  the 
Jews,  degenerate  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  the  apostles, 
were  as  little  prepared  for  a  spiritual,  heart-searching  reli- 
gion, as  any  people  of  the  Gentiles. 

Then  imagine  the  incipient  effort  of  the  disciples  of  Christ 
to  gain  over  the  nations  to  the  obedience  of  the  gospel.  What 
could  they  say  to  them  by  way  of  conciliation,  of  all  their 
systems  of  religion  and  habits  of  living,  to  which,  from  time 
immemorial,  they  had  been  accustomed?  Nothing  but 
unqualified,  uncompromising  reprobation.  What  could  they 
offer  as  a  substitute,  and  with  what  recommendations  could 
they  propose  it  ?  The  unity  of  God,  to  the  extermination 
of  all  idolatry ;  the  fall  of  man  and  his  entire  ruin  and 
condemnation  by  sin,  to  the  utter  subversion  of  all  their 
proud  conceit  of  their  own  merit,  and  of  the  dignity  of  their 
degraded  nature  ;  the  necessity  of  a  new  heart,  including 
repentance  and  holiness,  and  humility,  and  the  diligent 
pursuit  of  all  godliness  of  living,  to  the  complete  breaking 
up  of  all  their  philosophy ;  the  mortification  of  all  their 
pride,  and  the  direct  prohibition  of  all  those  unbridled  pas- 
sions and  odious  vices  which  then  held  such  universal  domin- 
ion in  the  world.  It  was  no  aid  to  the  work  of  the  apostles, 
that,  besides  the  above  unwelcome  truths  and  requisitions,  the 
gospel  stipulated  for  a  habit  of  secret  prayer,  a  life  of  faith  ; 
a  heart  animated  with  patience,  gentleness,  forgiveness,  and 
benevolence,  to  all  mankind ;  and,  above  all,  a  single  reli- 
ance for  peace  with  God  upon  the  death  and  intercession  of 
One  who  had  been  crucified  as  a  malefactor,  dcspistd  and 
rejected  even  by  the  despised  nation  of  the  Jews. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  from  this  brief  sketch  of  some  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  gospel,  in  contrast  with  all  that  was  loved, 
and  practised,  and  gloried  in  by  the  nations  of  the  earth,  that 
while  a  new  religion,  willing  to  make  terms  with  the  habits 
and  corruptions  of  men,  might,  if  aided  by  the  fascinations 
of  eloquence,  the  enticements  of  worldly  interest,  and  the 
arm  of  secular  povter.  have  gained  some  advancement 


253  LECTURE    IX. 

Christianity,  with  its  uncompromising  spirit ;  its  holy  require 
ments,  and  its  twelve  unlettered  and  despised  apostles  for  its 
whole  earthly  strength,  must  have  perished  in  its  infancy,  had 
not  the  "  Mighty  Ruler  of  the  universe"  been  its  friend. 

3d.  From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
enterprise  of  the  apostles  must  have  arrayed  against  it  all  the 
itiftucnce  of  every  priesthood  both  among  Jews  and  Heathens. 
In  the  beginning  of  Christianity  the  priests  of  the  Jews  were 
not  only  very  numerous  and  degenerate,  but  exceedingly 
influential  in  their  nation.  They  were,  in  reality,  the  nobility 
of  Judea.  The  power  of  the  magistracy  was,  in  a  great 
measure,  in  their  hands.  The  people  were  educated  under 
their  charge.  They  held  the  reins  of  public  opinion,  and 
headed  all  the  great  public  movements  of  the  community. 
What  tremendous  resistance  they  were  capable  of  making 
to  the  advancement  of  Christianity ;  how  bitterly  they  replied 
to  those  claims  which  pronounced  the  dissolution  of  their 
priesthood,  and  the  termination  of  their  authority ;  and  with 
what  deadly  concert  they  persecuted  its  blessed  Author, 
thinking  they  had  put  also  his  gospel,  when  they  had  put  his 
person  to  the  cross,  I  need  not  remind  you. 

We  turn  to  the  priests  of  the  Gentiles.  The  enterprise 
of  the  apostles  was  directly  at  war  with  their  dignities,  their 
influence,  and  their  gains.  What  resistance  they  were  capa- 
ble of  making,  is  obvious  from  a  consideration  of  the  exten- 
sive establishment,  the  high  official  dignity,  the  wealth,  the 
political  influence,  and  the  superstitious  veneration,  attached, 
in  the  first  years  of  Christianity,  to  a  heathen  priesthood. 
"The  religion  of  the  nations,"  says  Gibbon,  "was  not  merely 
a  speculative  doctrine,  professed  in  the  schools  or  preached  in 
the  temples.  The  innumerable  deities  and  rites  of  polythe- 
ism were  closely  interwoven  with  every  circumstance  of 
business  or  pleasure,  of  public  or  of  private  life ;  and  it 
seemed  impossible  to  escape  the  observance  of  them  without, 
at  the  same  time,  renouncing  the  commerce  of  mankind. 
The  important  transactions  of  peace  and  war  were  prepared 


LECTURE  IX.  257 

01  concluded  by  solemn  sacrifices,  in  which  the  magistrate, 
the  senator,  and  the  soldier  were  obliged  to  participate."  The 
Roman  senate  was  always  held  in  a  temple  or  consecrated 
place.  Before  commencing  business,  every  senator  per- 
formed an  act  of  homage  to  the  gods  of  the  nation.  The 
several  colleges  of  the  sacerdotal  order,  in  the  single  city  of 
Rome — the  fifteen  Pontiffs  ;  the  fifteen  Augurs  ;  the  fifteen 
keepers  of  the  Sibylline  books ;  the  six  Vestals ;  the  seven 
Epuli ;  the  Flamens  ;  the  confraternities  of  the  Salians  and 
Lupercaliaris,  &.C.,  furnish  an  idea  of  the  strong  establish- 
ment of  the  priesthood  in  an  empire  that  embraced  the  known 
world.  The  dignity  of  their  sacred  character  was  protected, 
as  well  by  the  laws  as  the  manners  of  the  country.  "  Their 
robes  of  purple,  chariots  of  state,  and  sumptuous  entertain- 
ments, attracted  the  admiration  of  the  people ;  and  they 
received  from  the  consecrated  lands  and  public  revenue  an 
ample  stipend,  which  liberally  supported  the  splendour  of  the 
priesthood,  and  all  the  expenses  of  the  religious  worship  of 
the  state."  The  great  men  of  Rome,  after  their  consulships 
and  military  triumphs,  aspired  to  the  place  of  pontiff  or  of 
augur.  Cicero  confesses  that  the  latter  was  the  supreme 
object  of  his  wishes.  Pliny  was  animated  with  a  similar 
ambitio- ...  Tacitus,  the  historian,  after  his  prsetorship,  was  a 
membe  of  the  sacerdotal  order.  The  fifteen  priests,  compos 
ing  the  college  of  pontiffs,  were  distinguished  as  the  com 
panions  of  their  sovereign.  And  as  an  evidence  of  what 
accommodations  paganism  must  have  had  in  Rome  in  the 
days  of  her  glory ;  the  number  of  its  temples  and  chapels, 
remaining  in  the  three  hundred  and  eightieth  year  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  when,  for  more  than  three  centuries,  Chris- 
tianity had  been  thinning  the  ranks  of  its  votaries,  and  for 
sixty  years  had  been  the  established  religion  of  the  empire, 
was  four  hundred  and  twenty-four*  In  connexion  with 
all  this  organization  and  deep  rooted  power  of  heathenism  : 
consider  its  various  tribes  of  subordinate  agents  and  interested 

*  Gibbon,  vol.  iv.  c.  xxviti. 


258  LECTURE    IX. 

allies ;  the  diviners,  augurs,  and  managers  of  oracles,  with 
all  the  attendants  and  assistants  belonging  to  the  temples  of 
a  countless  variety  of  idols ;  the  trades  whose  craft  was  sus- 
tained by  the  patronage  of  image-worship,  such  as  statuaries, 
shrine-mongers,  sacrifice-sellers,  incense-merchants  ;  consider 
the  great  festivals  and  games  by  which  heathenism  flattered 
the  dispositions  of  the  people,  and  enlisted  all  classes  and  all 
countries  in  its  support — the  Circensian  and  other  grand 
exhibitions  among  the  Romans ;  the  Pythian,  Nemean,  Isth- 
mian, and  Olympic  games,  celebrated  with  great  pomp  and 
splendour  in  almost  every  Grecian  city  of  Europe  and  Asia 
— the  pride  of  the  people,  the  delight  of  all  the  lovers  of 
pleasure  or  of  fame,  intimately  associated  with,  and  specially 
patronised  by  the  religion  of  idols  ;  and  therefore  directly 
attacked  by  all  the  eiforts  of  Christianity.  Then  say,  what 
must  have  been  the  immense  force  in  which  the  several 
priesthoods  of  all  heathen  nations  were  capable  of  uniting 
among  themselves,  and  with  the  priests  of  the  Jews,  in  the 
common  cause  of  crushing  a  religion  by  whose  doctrines 
none  of  them  could  be  tolerated.  That  with  all  their  various 
contingents,  they  did  unite,  consenting  in  this  one  object,  if 
in  little  else,  of  smothering  Christianity  in  her  cradle,  or  of 
drowning  her  in  the  blood  of  her  disciples,  all  history  assures 
us.  How  she  survived  their  efforts  ;  how  the  fishermen  of 
Galilee  could  have  overcome  their  whole  array  without  the 
help  of  God,  is  a  problem  which  infidelity  only  shows  its 
own  weakness  by  attempting  to  solve. 

4th.  But  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  was  united  with 
the  influence  of  heathen  and  Jewish  priesthoods  in  zealous 
hostility  to  the  gospel.  In  all  countries,  the  support  of  the 
religion  of  the  state  was  the  duty  of  the  magistrate.  Toler- 
ation, among  the  most  civilized  heathens,  much  as  it  has 
been  eulogized  by  infidels,  allowed  of  no  religion  that  would 
not  permit  entire  communion,  on  the  part  of  its  followers,  in 
the  worship  appointed  by  the  state.  On  this  condition  it 


LECTURE    IX. 


259 


countenanced  the  utmost  latitude  of  belief  and  practice." 
But  to  refuse  conformity  with  the  national  rites,  and  worship 
to  the  national  gods,  was  an  offence  unpardonable,  not  only 
to  the  gods,  but  to  the  civil  authority.  This  it  was  that  ex- 
cited so  much  wonder  among  the  Gentiles,  and  nerved  the 
secular  arm  with  such  deadly  offence  against  the  disciples 
of  Christ.  "  Keep  yourselves  from  idols''1  was  a  precept  that 
met  the  pagan  Greek  and  Roman  whenever  he  beheld  a 
Christian.  "  What  can  be  the  reason  (said  a  Roman  prefect 
to  an  Alexandrian  bishop)  why  you  may  not  still  adore  that 
God  of  yours,  supposing  him  to  be  a  God,  in  conjunction 
with  our  Gods?"  '•  We  worship  no  other  God"  was  the 
Christian's  answer  ;t  a  declaration  which,  from  the  sword  of 
a  heathen  magistrate,  could  have  no  forbearance,  and  being 
every  where  received  as  a  characteristic  principle  of  the 
gospel,  called  out  the  whole  power  of  the  civil  governments 
of  the  Gentiles  to  unite  with  their  priesthoods  in  its  de- 
struction. 

5th.  To  these  associated  powers,  were  added  the  prejudices 
and  passions  of  all  the  people.  These,  among  the  Gentiles, 
were  powerful,  not  only  in  favour  of  their  own  idolatries,  but 
especially  in  aversion  to  a  religion  originating  among  Jews ; 
still  more  to  a  religion  advocated  by  Jews  who  were  despised 
and  persecuted  by  their  own  despised  countrymen  ;  and  yet  a 
great  deal  more  to  a  religion  so  spiritual  and  holy,  so  utterly 
at  war  with  vice  and  idolatry,  as  that  of  the  gospel. 

See.  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  a  picture  from  the  pen- 
cil of  a  master,  of  the  fierce  passions,  the  vicious  debasements, 
which  universally  characterized  the  Gentile  nations  in  the 
days  of  St.  Paul.  "  Filled  with  all  unrighteousness,  fornica- 

*  "  The  Athenian  notion  of  toleration  is  well  described  by  Socrates,  and 
much  resembles  the  opinion  on  that  subject  that  many  entertain,  even  in  our 
own  tines.     '  It  appears  to  me,  says  Socrates,  that  the  Athenians  do  no< 
greatly  care  what  sentiments  a  man  holds,  provided  he  keeps  them  to  hvm,self 
but  if  he  attempts  to  instruct  others,  then  they  are  indignant.'  " 

Douglas  on  Errors,  &c.  219. 
t  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  vii.  c.  xi. 


260 


LECTURE    IX. 


tion,  wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness ;  full  of  envy, 
murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity;  whisperers,  backbiters, 
haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters,  inventors  of  evil 
tilings,  disobedient  to  parents,  without  understanding,  cove- 
nant-breakers, without  natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerci- 
ful :  Who,  knowing  the  judgment  of  God,  that  they  which 
commit  such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do  the 
same,  but  have  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them."*  This  de 
scription  is  borne  out,  to  the  letter,  by  the  testimonies  of 
heathen  writers.  Paul  has  furnished  a  picture  of  the  morals 
of  his  own  nation  corresponding  with  it  in  all  essential  fea- 
tures. What,  then,  could  the  gospel,  with  all  its  holy 
duties  and  spiritual  doctrines,  encounter  in  such  a  world,  but 
a  most  violent  opposition  from  the  whole  mass  of  the  people  ? 
6th.  But  the  wisdom  and  pride  of  the  heathen  philophers 
were  by  no  means  the  least  formidable  enemies  with  which 
the  gospel  had  to  contend.  Their  sects,  though  numerous 
and  exceedingly  various,  were  all  agreed  in  proudly  trusting 
in  themselves  that  they  were  wise,  and  despising  others. 
Their  published  opinions ;  their  private  speculations ;  their 
personal  immorality ;  made  iliem  irreconcilable  adversaries 
of  Christianity.  It  went  up  into  their  schools,  and  called 
their  wisdom  foolishness,  and  rebuked  their  self-conceit.  It 
"  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech,"  or  "  the  enticing  words 
of  man's  wisdom,"  "  doting  (as  they  did)  about  questions  and 
strifes  of  words ;"  but  knowing  nothing  among  men  save 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  it  just  bade  them  repent,  be 
converted,  become  as  little  children,  and  believe  in  a  crucified 
Saviour  for  peace  with  God.  This  was,  indeed,  "to  the 
Greek  foolishness"  "  What  will  this  babbler  say  ?"  "He 
seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods"  were  the  taunt- 
ing words  of  certain  of  the  Epicureans  and  Stoics  when  they 
encountered  St.  Paul.  Mockery  was  the  natural  expression 
of  their  minds  "  when  they  heard  of  the  resurrection  of  the 

*  Rom.  i.  29—32. 


LECTURE   IX.  261 

dead."*  The  apostles,  therefore,  in  attempting  to  propagate 
the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles,  were  opposed  by  all  the  wit, 
and  learning,  and  sophistry ;  all  the  pride  and  jealousy,  and 
malice,  of  every  sect  of  philosophers.  And  how  formidable 
was  this  hostility,  is  obvious,  from  the  great  credit,  superior 
e\  en  to  that  of  the  priests,  among  the  higher  classes  of  society, 
which  those  sects  had  obtained.  "Whoever  pretended  to 
learning  or  virtue  was  their  disciple ;  the  greatest  magistrates, 
generals,  kings,  ranged  themselves  undtr  their  discipline, 
were  trained  up  in  their  schools,  and  professed  the  opinions 
they  taught."! 

7th.  In  connexion  with  these  powerful  adversaries,  con- 
sider the  character  of  the  age  in  which  the  apostles  under- 
took the  propagation  of  Christianity.  It  was  distinguished  as 
one  of  profound  peace  among  the  nations,  when  the  minds  of 
men  were  peculiarly  capable  of  deliberately  investigating  the 
claims  of  the  gospel ;  it  was  the  Augustan  age,  when  phi- 
losophy thronged  the  cities  with  her  disciples,  and  every 
description  of  polite  literature  was  in  the  highest  cultivation. 
Its  peculiar  feature  was  directly  the  reverse  of  credulity.  No 
age  of  the  world,  before  or  since,  was  so  extensively  charac- 
terized by  scepticism.  While  the  great  mass  of  the  plebeians 
were  superstitiously  given  to  idolatry,  the  patricians  were  no 
less  corrupted  with  opinions  which  went  to  the  denial  of  all 
religion.  Among  the  various  schools  which  then  divided  the 
learned  of  the  Roman  empire ;  those  which  declared  openly 
against  the  most  fundamental  truths  of  religion  were  much 
the  most  numerous.  Of  this  description  were  the  Epicure- 
ansl  and  Academics ;  the  former  maintaining  that  the  soul 
was  mortal,  and  that,  if  gods  there  were,  they  took  no  car 
of  human  affairs  ;  the  latter,  that  to  arrive  at  truth  was  im 
possible ;  that,  "  whether  the  gods  existed  or  not ;  whether 
the  soul  was  mortal  or  immortal ;  virtue  preferable  to  vice, 

*  Acts,  xvii.  18 — 32.          t  Lyttletons's  Conversion  of  St.  Paul, 
t  Cicero  complains  that  of  all  sects  of  philosophers,  this  made  the  most 
remarkable  progress  and  gained  the  most  adherents.  De  F^inibus. 

22 


263  LECTURE    IX. 

or  vice  to  virtue?  could  not  be  ascertained.  These  two 
sects,  the  one  atheist,  the  other  too  sceptical  even  to  believe  in 
atheism,  were  the  most  numerous  of  all  others  in  the  age  of 
the  apostles,  and  were  particularly  encouraged  by  the  liberality 
of  the  rich  and  the  protection  of  the  powerful.*  From  this 
prevalence  of  philosophy  "  falsely  so  called,"  the  age  was  dis- 
tinguished for  curious  and  bold  inquiry ;  the  learned  every 
where,  like  those  of  Athens,  spending  their  time  in  little 
else  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing. ^  It  was, 
also,  for  the  same  reason,  an  age  of  special  contempt  for 
whatever  claimed  to  be  received  as  supernatural.  While 
every  city,  through  the  influence  of  the  priests  and  magis- 
trates, was  wholly  given  to  idolatry,  so  far  as  the  multitude 
and  the  external  aspect  of  all  classes  were  concerned ;  yet,  in 
the  inner  schools  of  philosophy  and  the  private  opinions  of 
the  educated,  it  was  almost  entirely  pervaded  with  scepticism. 
Add  to  this,  its  necessary  companion,  the  universal  preva- 
lence of  unprecedented  luxury  and  dissoluteness  of  living ; 
and  you  will  have  a  true  outline  of  the  character  of  the  age 
in  which  the  apostles,  by  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching," 
knowing  "  nothing  among  men  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified,"  were  to  "  destroy  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,"  and 
convert  whole  nations  to  Christianity. 

Most  evidently,  was  the  age  peculiarly  and  entirely  unpropi- 
tious.  Nothing,  on  human  calculation,  could  have  been 
more  certain  of  utter  rejection  and  contempt,  at  such  a  time, 
than  the  simplicity,  spirituality,  and  holiness  of  the  gospel ; 
especially  its  two  cardinal  points,  humble  repentance  and 
submissive  faith. 

8th.  Consider,  next,  to  whom  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  was  committed.  Who  were  they  that  received  the 
commission,  "  Go  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  and 
"  make  disciples  of  all  nations  ?"  Men,  adapted  to  such  a 
mighty  work  in  no  single  qualification,  except  to  show,  in 
their  weakness,  that  their  success  was  altogether  of  God ! 

•  Mosheim's  Hist,  part  I.  5  XXL  t  Acts,  xvil 


LECTURE   IX. 

They  were  neither  philosophers,  nor  orators,  nor  educated 
men.  They  were  from  a  class  of  mankind  denominated  by 
the  ruling  nations,  barbarians ;  they  were  of  that  nation 
among  the  barbarians,  whom  all  the  rest  of  the  world  parti- 
cularly despised ;  they  were  of  that  portion  of  the  nation, 
which  was  least  esteemed  by  its  own  members.  They  were 
poor,  without  the  least  worldly  consideration  or  influence 
They  were  acquainted  with  no  craft  but  that  of  publicans 
arid  fishermen.  They  had  never  learned  any  language  but. 
that  of  Galilee,  and  yet  they  were  to  preach  to  people  of  ail 
languages.  Such  were  the  men  whose  work  it  was  to  assault 
the  high  and  fenced  walls  of  Judaism ;  to  break  the  power 
of  heathenism,  though  entrenched  in  the  vices  of  the  people; 
upheld  by  the  craft  of  their  priesthoods ;  defended  by  the 
power  of  all  nations ;  and  sanctioned  by  the  traditions  of 
immemorial  ages.  Such  were  the  men  who  were  to  go  into  the 
proud  schools  of  philosophy ;  show  their  wisdom  to  be  fool  - 
ishness ;  teach  their  teachers ;  bring  out  captives  to  trw 
humble  faith  of  the  crucified  Nazarene ;  arid  baptize  then) 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

9th.  Consider  the  circumstances  of  depression  and  discou- 
ragement in  which  they  commenced  this  work.  The  enemies 
of  their  Master  had  just  succeeded  in  putting  him  to  the  shame 
of  the  cross,  under  accusation  of  capital  guilt.  Their  taunt- 
ing language  to  the  agonizing  victim  :  "  Come  down  from  the. 
cross,  if  thou  be  the  Son  of  God"  shows  what  a  death-blow 
they  supposed  themselves  to  have  given  to  his  cause.  All 
his  disciples  had  forsaken  him  and  fled.  The  stone  upon 
the  mouth  of  his  sepulchre  was  not  heavier  than  the  weight 
upon  their  hearts,  when  they  beheld  him  dead  and  buried. 
After  a  few  days,  they  assembled  together  again  in  Jerusalem, 
when  an  upper  room  contained  the  whole  congregation  of 
those  that  believed  in  Christ.  Their  cause  was  universally 
supposed  to  have  died  with  its  Master.  The  fact  that  he  had 
flot  been  saved  by  the  power  of  God  from  the  disgrace  of 


'264  LECTURE    IX. 

crucifixion,  was  regarded  every  where  as  a  perfect  answer  to 
all  his  claims.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel.  These  were  the  desperate  circumstances  in 
which  the  unfriended,  unprotected,  ridiculed  apostles  were  to 
set  up  their  banner.  What  could  they. do? 

10th.  Consider  the  mode  they  adopted.  They  sought  no 
favour  from  worldly  influence ;  courted  no  human  indul- 
gence ;  waited  for  no  earthly  approbation  ;  paid  as  little 
deference  to  rank,  or  wealth,  or  human  learning,  as  to  poverty 
and  meanness.  They  spake  as  men  having  authority ;  as 
ambassadors,  commissioned  from  a  throne,  and  sustained  by  a 
power  before  which,  they  had  a  right  to  demand  that  priests, 
and  philosophers,  and  kings,  should  submit.  "  Not  with 
enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,"  did  they  seek  to  advance 
their  cause ;  but  in  simple  reliance  upon  "  the  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit."  Instead  of  selecting  such  doctrines  as  would 
best  conciliate  their  hearers,  and  concealing  the  rest ;  they 
fixed  their  preaching  most  emphatically  on  what  they  knew 
was  the  special  topic  of  derision  and  mockery  both  to  Jew 
and  Greek :  glorying  in  nothing  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Instead  of  seeking  retired  and  ignorant  people  as  the  subjects 
of  their  efforts  ;  instead  of  a  double  doctrine,  as  the  philoso- 
phers had — one  thing  for  the  world,  another  for  their  disciples 
— a  part  for  the  novice — the  whole  only  for  the  initiated — 
they  kept  back  nothing,  any  where;  declaring  boldly  the 
whole  gospel  in  the  most  public  places  and  before  the  greatest 
enemies.  "Jesus  and  the  resurrection,"  were  preached  as 
freely  to  Epicureans  and  Stoics  in  Athens,  as  to  publicans  and 
sinners  in  Jerusalem.  Instead  of  accommodating  their  declara- 
tions in  any  degree  to  the  vainglorious  and  vicious  characters 
of  those  whom  they  addressed  ;  they  declared  the  wrath  of 
God  to  be  "  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  men."  To  every  soul  that  would  be  a 
Christian,  they  issued  the  requirement,  "depart  from  iniquity," 
u  crucify  the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  lusts,"  and  be  willing 
to  be  esteemed  a  fool  and  persecuted  to  death  for  Christ's 


LECTURE    IX. 

sake.  Such  was  the  mode  selected  by  these  powerless  Galir 
leanSj  by  which  to  subdue  the  fierce  opposition  of  the  proud, 
self-righteous  Jews,  and  to  make  Christians  out  of  Greeks 
and  Romans,  alike  devoted  to  degrading  vices,  and  puffed  up 
with  the  conceit  of  superior  wisdom. 

llth.  Now  let  us  see  in  what  manner  the  attempt  to  propa- 
gate Christianity  was  received.  It  was  met  every  where  by 
the  most  strenuous  hostility,  and  the  fiercest  persecution 
From  the  first  discourse  of  the  apostles,  down  to  the  three 
hundred  and  fifth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  persecution  never 
entirely  ceased,  while  its  more  public  and  general  onsets  fol- 
lowed one  another  in  such  close  succession,  that  the  church 
had  hardly  time  to  bury  her  dead  before  she  was  called  to 
prepare  more  candidates,  by  thousands  at  a  time,  for  the 
tortures  and  triumphs  of  martyrdom.  The  preaching  of  the 
apostles  began  at  Jerusalem,  and  there  also  persecution  began. 
Saul  hunted  Christians  with  the  appetite  of  a  bloodhound. 
Stephen  was  the  first  victim.  Soon  the  brethren  were  scat- 
tered far  and  wide  by  the  fury  of  the  storm.  James  was 
slain  with  the  sword ;  Peter,  imprisoned  for  execution  ;  Paul, 
scourged  and  stoned,  and  pursued  so  continually  that,  in 
every  city,  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited  him.  Whatever 
Jewish  hate,  goaded  on  by  a  jealous  priesthood,  could  do,  was 
put  in  requisition  to  crush  the  cause.  All  the  devices  that 
Roman  governors,  seconded  by  the  superstitions  and  passions 
of  the  several  nations  of  heathenism,  could  employ,  were 
united  in  the  one  business  of  driving  back  the  advancing 
cause  of  Christ.  His  disciples  were  calumniated  as  atheists; 
enemies  of  man;  murderers  and  devourers  of  their  own 
children  ;  and  as  guilty  of  the  most  loathsome  and  horrible 
practices.*  Instruments  of  torture  were  exhausted.  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  soldiers,  slaves,  governors,  and  emperors,  racked 

*  "  The  Atheists,"  was  the  universal  name  for  Qhristians.  To  the  charge 
of  dire  hostility  to  all  religion,  was  added  that  of  combined  rebellion  against 
all  law  and  all  mankind.  "  Irreligiosi  in  Ctzsares,  hastes  Casarum,  host** 
pi  *puii  Romani"  was  their  universal  character,  among  their  enemieo. 

22* 


266  LECTURE  IX. 

their  ingenuity  to  find  out  new  ways  of  tempting  Christians 
to  unfaithfulness,  and,  when  they  were  steadfast,  of  increasing 
their  agonies  without  hastening  their  death.  Every  province, 
and  city,  and  village,  was  a  scene  of  martyrdom.  The  great 
principle  of  the  ruling  powers  was,  that  this  "  superstition," 
as  they  called  it,  must  at  all  hazards  be  put  down.  Ci  In  a 
short  time,  the  punishments  of  death  were  so  common,  that,  as 
related  by  the  writers  of  those  times,  no  famine,  pestilence,  or 
war,  ever  consumed  more  men  at  a  time."  The  edict  of 
Trajan,  commanding  the  presidents  to  inflict  capital  punish- 
ment on  all  who  would  not  renounce  Christianity,  was  never 
abrogated  while  heathenism  reigned  in  Rome.*  What  perse- 
cution was  in  the  heart  of  the  empire,  it  was  also  in  Africa, 
Persia,  Arabia,  Capadocia,  Mesopotamia,  Nicomedia,  Phry- 
gia,  and  in  almost  every  place  where  the  Christian  name  was 
known.  "  Those  who  suffered  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  men, 
women,  youths  of  both  sexes,  were  so  numerous  as  to  be 
estimated  only  in  the  mass."  "In  torments  they  stood 
stronger  than  their  tormentors ;  their  bruised  and  mangled 
limbs  proving  too  hard  for  the  instruments  with  which 
their  flesh  was  racked  and  pulled  from  them;  the  blows, 
however  often  repeated,  could  not  conquer  their  impregnable 
faith ;  even  though  they  not  only  sliced  and  tore  off  the  flesh, 
but  raked  into  their  very  bowels."  Such  is  the  description 
given  by  one  of  those  who  thus  endured  to  the  end.t  The 
strong  language  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  eminently 
applicable.  Some  "  were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance ; 
others  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  more- 
over of  bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned,  they 
were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the  sword: 
they  wandered  about  in  sheep-skins,  and  goat-skins  ;  being 
destitute,  afflicted,  tormented :  they  wandered  in  deserts,  and 
m  mountains,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth."t 

Christians  were  often  the  victims  of  popular  fury,  as  well 
as  of  public  edicts  and  imperial  authority.     Every  odious 

*  Lardner,  iv.  300.  t  Cyprian.  t  Heb.  xi.  35—38. 


LECTURE   IX.  •       267 

slander  was  propagated  against  them  for  the  purpose  o£ 
instigating  the  rage  of  the  populace.  The  evidence  of  abject 
slaves  or  of  persons  forced  by  torture  to  testify  as  an  in 
censed  community  desired,  was  used  to  justify  the  most 
dreadful  explosions  of  vulgar  hate.  Did  a  drought  occur  ?  It 
was  a  proverbial  explanation,  that  "  if  God  refused  rain,  the 
Christians  were  in  fault."  Did  the  Nile  refuse  its  annual 
irrigation,  or  the  Tiber  overflow  its  banks  ?  Did  earth- 
quake, or  famine,  or  any  other  public  calamity,  excite  the 
popular  mind?  A  ready  cause  was  in  every  mouth;  the 
anger  of  the  gods  on  account  of  the  increase  of  Christianity ! 
A  ready  sacrifice  to  propitiate  the  offended  deities  was  imme- 
diately resorted  to ;  the  slaughter  of  the  Christians  !  How 
the  better  informed  of  society  endeavoured  to  stimulate  the 
mob  to  these  hecatombs  of  innocent  victims,  may  be  judged 
from  the  fact,  that  "Porphyry,  a  man  who  wished  to  be 
accounted  a  philosopher,  found  a  cause  for  the  inveteracy  of 
an  infectious  and  desolating  sickness  in  this,  that  Esculapius 
could  not  exert  any  effectual  influence  on  the  earth  in 
consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  Christianity."* 

Such,  then,  were  the  obstacles  which  opposed  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel.  Who,  in  their  anticipation,  must  not 
have  said :  "  If  this  cause  be  .of  man,  it  must  come  to  naught?" 
Either  it  must  die  a  natural  death  in  the  obscurity  of  its 
birth,  or  be  torn  to  pieces  at  the  first  onset  of  its  foes,  or  else 
it  must  be  of  God, — protected  and  advanced  by  His  power. 

Before  proceeding  to  speak  of  the  success  of  the  apostles, 
we  may  deduce,  from  the  premises  we  have  established,  a 
conclusive  proof  of  the  power  by  which  they  acted. 

It  is  certain  that  they  understood  the  difficulties,  and  anti- 
cipated the  dangers,  of  their  work.  As  men  of  ordinary 
understanding,  they  must  have  foreseen,  while,  by  the  pre- 
dictions of  Christ,  they  were  distinctly  apprised  of,  the  obsta- 
cles and.  perils  they  would  encounter.  Nevertheless,  with  a. 
perfect  knowledge  of  their  own  weakness,  they  undertook 

*  Neander's  Oh.  Hist. 


268  LECTURE    IX. 

to  propagate  the  gospel  an  .ong  all  nations.  Why  ?  What 
*was  there  in  reproach  and  beggary,  in  racks  and  prisons,  in 
wild  beasts  and  flames,  so  inviting?  Must  they  not  have 
been  sincere  in  their  professions  ?  Could  any  thing  short  of 
a  thorough  belief  that  Jesus  was  risen,  .and  had  promised  to 
be  with  them  in  all  their  labours,  have  induced  them  to 
undertake  such  an  enterprise?  It  is  impossible,  without 
ridiculous  absurdity,  to  question  their  entire  persuasion  of 
this.  But  is  tin's  a  proof  that  Jesus  was  risen,  and  that,  in 
divine  power,  he  was  with  them  ?  We  do  not  pretend  that 
ill  general,  the  fact  of  the  advocates  of  a  doctrine  being  con- 
vinced, is  valid  evidence,  of  its  truth.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
apostles  it  should  be  thus  regarded,  inasmuch  as  they  could 
not  have  been  deceived.  Whether  Jesus  wrought  genuine 
miracles  or  not ;  whether  he  had  appeared  to  them  "  at  sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners"  after  his  burial ;  whether  he 
had  eaten  with  them,  conversed  with  them,  journeyed  with 
them,  during  the  space  of  forty  days  subsequent  to  his  death  ; 
whether  they  heard  and  saw  him,  at  the  end  of  those  days, 
solemnly  give  them  their  charge  to  propagate  the  gospel,  and 
the  promise  of  his  presence  and  power  wherever  they  should 
go ;  they  must  have  known.  Consequently,  when,  with  such 
undeniable  knowledge  and  unquestionable  sincerity,  they 
went  into  all  the  world  preaching  Jesus  and  the  resurrection, 
neither  deceived  nor  wishing  to  deceive,  the  evidence  was 
perfect  that  they  laboured  in  the  service  of  truth ;  that  then- 
faith  stood  not  "  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power 
of  God." 

II.  Let  us  now  consider  THE  SUCCESS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

IN    EXECUTING    THEIR    MASTER'S    CHARGE.       Oil  the  fiftieth 

day  after  his  death  they  commenced.  Beginning  in  Jerusa- 
lem, the  very  furnace  of  persecution,  they  first  set  up  their 
banner  in  the  midst  of  those  who  had  been  first  in  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus,  and  were  all  elate  with  the  triumph  of  that 
tragedy  No  assemblage  could  have  been  more  possessed  of 
dispositions  perfectly  at  war  with  their  message,  than  that  te 


LECTURE    EX.  269 

which  they  made  their  first  address.  And  what  was  the 
tenor  of  the  address?  "Jesus  of  Nazareth  (said  Peter), 
being  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknow- 
ledge of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have 
crucified  and  slain ;  whom  God  hath  raised  up.  Therefore 
let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly  that  God  hath 
made  that  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord 
and  Christ."  One  would  have  supposed  that  the  same  hands 
that  had  rioted  in  the  blood  of  his  Master,  would  now  have 
wreaked  their  enmity  in  that  of  this  daring  and,  to  all  human 
view,  most  impolitic  apostle.  But  what  ensued?  Three 
thousand  souls  were  that  day  added  to  the  infant  church.* 
In  a  few  days  the  number  was  increased  to  jive  thousand  ;t 
and  in  the  space  of  about  a  year  and  a  half,  though  the  gos- 
pel was  preached  only  in  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity,  "  multi- 
tudes, both  of  men  and  women,"  and  "  a  great  company  of 
the  priests,  were  obedient  to  the  faith ,"t  Now,  the  converts 
being  driven,  by  a  fierce  persecution,  from  Jerusalem,  "  went 
every  where  preaching  the  word ;"  and  in  less  than  three 
years  churches  were  gathered  "throughout  all  Judea,  Galilee, 
and  Samaria,  and  were  multiplied."§  About  two  years  after 
this,  or  seven  from  the  beginning  of  the  work,  the  gospel  was 
first  preached  to  the  Gentiles  ;  and  such  was  the  success,  that 
before  thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Christ,  his 
church  had  spread  throughout  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria  ; 
through  almost  all  the  numerous  districts  of  the  lesser  Asia  ; 
through  Greece  and  the  islands  of  the  ^gean  sea,  the  sea- 
coast  of  Africa,  and  even  into  Italy  and  Rome.  The  number 
of  converts  in  the  several  cities,  respectively,  is  described  by 
the  expressions,  "a  great  number"  "great  multitudes," 
"much  people."  What  an  extensive  impression  had  been 
made,  is  obvious  from  the  outcry  of  the  opposers  at  Thessa- 
lonica,  "  that  they,  who  had  turned  the  world  upside  down, 
were  come  hither  also."  Demetrius,  an  enemy,  complained 
of  Paul  that,  "  not  only  at  Ephesus,  but  also  throughout  all 

*  Acts,  ii.  41.    t  Acts,  iv.  4.    J  Acts,  v.  14;  vi.  7.    §  Acts,  viii.  4;  ix.  13. 


270  LECTURE    IX. 

Asia,  he  had  persuaded  and  turned  away  much  people."* 
In  the  mean  while,  Jerusalem,  the  chief  seat  of  Jewish  ran- 
cour, continued  the  metropolis  of  the  gospel,  having  in  it 
many  tens  of  thousands  of  believers.}  These  accounts  are 
taken  from  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  but  as 
this  book  is  almost  confined  to  the  labours  of  Paul  and  his 
immediate  companions,  saying  very  little  of  the  other  apos- 
tles, it  is  very  certain  that  the  view  we  have  given  of  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel,  during  the  first  thirty  years,  is 
very  incomplete.  In  the  thirtieth  year  after  the  beginning 
of  the  work,  the  terrible  persecution  under  Nero  kindled  its 
fires ;  then  Christians  had  become  so  numerous  at  Rome, 
that,  by  the  testimony  of  Tacitus,  "  a  great  multitude'1'1  were 
seized.  In  forty  years  more,  as  we  are  told  in  a  celebrated 
letter  from  Pliny,  the  Roman  governor  of  Pontus  and  Bythi- 
nia,  Christianity  had  long  subsisted  in  these  provinces,  though 
so  remote  -from  Judea.  "  Many  of  all  ages,  and  of  every 
rank,  of  both  sexes  likewise,"  were  accused  to  Pliny  of  being 
Christians.  What  he  calls  "the  contagion  of  this  superstition" 
(thus  forcibly  describing  the  irresistible  and  rapid  spread  of 
Christianity),  had  "  seized  not  cities  only,  but  the  less  towns 
also,  and  the  open  country,"  so  that  the  heathen  temples 
"were  almost  forsaken,"  few  victims  were  purchased  for 
sacrifice,  and  "  a  long  intermission  of  the  sacred  solemnities 
had  taken  place."t  Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  about  thirty 
years  after  Pliny,  and  one  hundred  after  the  gospel  was  first 
preached  to  the  Gentiles,  thus  describes  the  extent  of  Chris- 
tianity in  his  time :  "  There  is  not  a  nation,  either  Greek  or 
barbarian,  or  of  any  other  name,  even  of  those  who  wandei 
in  tribes  and  live  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanks- 
givings are  not  offered  to  the  Father  and  Creator  of  the 
universe  by  the  namfe  of  the  crucified  Jesus."  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus,  a  few  years  after,  thus  writes :  "  The  philosophers 
were  confined  to  Greece,  and  to  their  particular  retainers ; 

*  See  Paley's  Evidences.        t  Acts,  xxi.  30.    "  ITWai  pvpiafcs" 
t  Lardner,  iv.  13 — 15. 


LECTURE  IX.  271 

but  the  doctrine  of  the  Master  of  Christianity  did  not  remain 
in  Judea,  but  is  spread  throughout  the  whole  world,  in  every 
nation,  and  village,  and  city,  converting  both  whole  houses 
and  separate  individuals,  having  already  brought  over  to  the 
truth  not  a  few  of  the  philosophers  themselves.  If  the  Greek 
philosophy  be  prohibited,  it  immediately  vanishes  ;  whereas, 
from  the  first  preaching  of  our  doctrine,  kings  and  tyrants, 
governors  and  presidents,  with  their  whole  train  and  with 
the  populace  on  their  side,  have  endeavoured,  with  their 
whole  might,  to  exterminate  it,  yet  doth  it  flourish  more 
and  more." 

There  is  no  reason  for  diminishing  the  wonder  which  this 
rapid  success  of  the  gospel  so  necessarily  excites,  by  the 
supposition  that  all  these  conversions,  or  the  greater  part  of 
them,  were  little  more  than  a  change  of  profession  and 
name ;  the  substitution  of  a  Christian  church,  for  a  heathen 
temple — a  mere  transition  from  one  system  of  religious 
ceremonial  to  another.  In  times  of  fierce  persecution  the 
reality  of  a  conversion  is  tried  "  as  by  Jire"  There  was 
little  during  the  first  three  hundred  years  of  Christianity  to 
encourage  a  profession  of  its  faith,  except  so  far  as  the 
heart  had  become  sufficiently  devoted  to  its  holy  and  self- 
denying  duties,  to  be  willing  to  suffer  on  their  account  the 
loss  of  all  things.  Mere  cold  assent  and  dead  formality 
were  not  likely  to  put  themselves  in  the  way  of  being  torn 
by  wild  beasts,  or  buried  in  the  mines.  The  change  wrought 
in  the  converts  was,  for  the  most  part  and  notoriously,  a 
change  of  heart  and  of  life,  as  well  as  an  entire  change  of 
opinion.  The  striking  alteration  in  those  who  embraced  the 
gospel,  bore  a  powerful  attestation  to  its  divine  authority 
Philosophers  complained  that  men  improved  but  little,  in 
goodness,  under  their  instructions ;  while  Paul  could  say  to 
the  Christians  of  Corinth,  a  city  famous  for  the  profligacy  of 
its  inhabitants,  "  Such  were  some  of  you :  but  ye  are  washed, 
ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God"  " The  doctrine  of 


272  LECTURE  IX. 

Christ,"  says  a  writer  of  those  times,  "did  convert  the  most 
wicked  persons  who  embraced  it  from  all  their  debaucheries, 
to  the  practice  of  all  virtues."*  So  remarkable  was  the 
difference  between  the  Christians  and  those  whom  they  had 
once  resembled,  that  Origen,  defending  their  faith  against  the 
attacks  of  Celsus,  challenges  a  comparison  between  their 
moral  character  and  that  of  any  other  societies  in  the  world. 
Even  the  sceptic  Gibbon  unites  in  this  testimony.  Speaking 
of  these  early  converts,  he  says  :  "  As  they  emerged  from  sin 
and  superstition  to  the  glorious  hope  of  immortality,  they 
resolved  to  devote  themselves  to  a  life  not  only  of  virtue, 
but  of  penitence.  The  desire  of  perfection  became  the 
ruling  passion  of  their  soul."  "  Their  serious  and  sequestered 
life,  averse  to  the  gay  luxury  of  the  age,  inured  them  to 
chastity,  temperance,  economy,  and  all  the  sober  and  domes- 
tic virtues.  The  contempt  of  the  world  exercised  them  in 
the  habits  of  humility,  meekness,  and  patience.  The  more 
they  were  persecuted,  the  more  closely  they  adhered  to  each 
other.  Their  mutual  charity  and  unsuspecting  confidence 
has  been  remarked  by  infidels,  and  was  too  often  abused  by 
perfidious  friends.  Even  their  faults,  or  rather  their  errors, 
were  derived  from  an  excess  of  virtue."t  From  all  these 
authorities,  it  is  evident  that  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
was  not  only  of  great  rapidity,  but  of  great  power  in  trans- 
forming the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  multitudes  who  em- 
braced it. 

In  connexion  with  the  moral  power  and  vast  extent  of 
this  work ;  it  should  be  considered,  that  among  those  who 
were  brought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ,  were  men  of  all 
classes,  from  the  most  obscure  and  ignorant,  to  the  most 
elevated  and  learned.  In  the  New  Testament,  we  read  of  an 
eminent  counsellor,  and  of  a  chief  ruler,  and  of  a  great 
company  of  priests,  and  of  two  centurions  of  the  Roman 
army,  and  of  a  proconsul  of  Cyprus,  and  of  a  member  of 
the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  and  even  of  certain  of  the  house- 

*  Origen  cont.  Celsum.  t  Gibbon,  ii.  xv.  138—9. 


LECTURE  IX.  273 

hold  of  the  emperor  Nero,  as  having  been  converted  to  the 
faith.  Many  of  the  converts  were  highly  esteemed  for  talents 
and  attainments.  Such  was  Justin  Martyr,  who,  while  a 
heathen,  was  conversant  with  all  the  schools  of  philosophy. 
Such  vras  Pantaenus,  who,  before  his  conversion,  was  a 
philosopher  of  the  school  of  the  Stoics,  and  whose  instruc- 
tions in  human  learning  at  Alexandria,  after  he  became  a 
Christian,  were  much  frequented  by  students  of  various 
characters.  Such  also  was  Origen,  whose  reputation  for 
learning  was  so  great,  that  not  only  Christians,  but  philoso- 
phers flocked  to  his  lectures  upon  mathematics  and  philosophy, 
as  well  as  on  the  scriptures.  Even  the  noted  Porphyry  did 
not  refrain  from  a  high  eulogium  upon  the  learning  of 
Origen.*  It  may  help  to  convey  some  notion  of  the  charac- 
ter and  quality  of  many  early  Christians  ;  of  their  learning 
and  their  labours  ;  to  notice  the  Christian  writers  who 
flourished  in  these  ages.  St.  Jerome's  catalogue  contains  one 
hundred  and  twenty  writers  previous  to  the  year  360  from 
the  death  of  Christ.  The  catalogue  is  thus  introduced: 
"  Let  those  who  say  the  church  has  had  no  philosophers,  nor 
eloquent  and  learned  men,  observe  who  and  what  they  were 
who  founded,  established,  and  adorned  it."t  Pliny,  in  his 
celebrated  letter  to  Trajan,  written  about  sixty-three  years 
after  the  gospel  began  to  be  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  expressly 
states  that,  in  the  provinces  of  Pontus  and  Bythinia,  mdny 
of  all  ranks  were  accused  to  him  of  the  crime  of  being 
Christians.t 

*  Stillingfleet's  Orig.  Sac.  273-4.        t  See  Paley,  346. 

t  The  early  advocates  of  Christianity,  in  controversy  with  the  heathen  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  were  accustomed  to  dwell  with  great  stress  upon  the  argu- 
ment from  its  propagation.  Chrysostom,  of  the  fourth  century,  writes : 
"  The  apostles  of  Christ  were  twelve,  and  they  gained  the  whole  world." 
"  Zeno,  Plato,  Socrates,  and  many  others,  endeavoured  to  introduce  a  new 
course  of  life,  but  in  vain ;  whereas  Jesus  Christ  not  only  taught,  but  settled 
a  new  polity,  or  way  of  living,  all  over  the  world."  "  The  doctrines  and 
writings  of  fishermen,  who  were  beaten  and  driven  from  society,  and  always 
lived  in  the  midst  of  dangers,  have  been  readily  embraced  by  learned  and 
unlearned,  bondmen  and  free,  kings  and  soldiers,  Greeks  and  barbarians.' 

23 


274  LECTURE    IX. 

We  have  now  prepared  the  several  facts  that  constitute  the 
materials  of  our  argument.  Here  is  an  unquestionable  his- 
torical event. — The  rapid  and  extensive  spread  of  Christianity 
over  the  whole  Roman  empire  in  less  than  seventy  years 
from  the  outset  of  its  preaching.  Has  any  thing  else  of  a 
like  kind  been  known  in  the  world  ?  Did  the  learning  and 
popularity  of  the  ancient  philosophers,  powerfully  aided  by 
the  favour  of  the  great,  and  the  peculiar  character  of  the 
age,  accomplish  any  thing  in  the  least  resembling  the  success 
of  the  apostles  ?  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  only  one  of  them 
"  ever  dared  to  attack  the  base  religion  of  the  nation,  and 
substitute  better  representations  of  God  in  its  stead,  although 
its  absurdity  was  apparent  to  many  of  them.  An  attempt 
of  this  kind,  having  cost  the  bold  Socrates  his  life,  no  others 
had  resolution  enough  to  offer  such  a  sacrifice  for  the  general 
good.  To  excuse  their  timidity  in  this  respect,  and  give  it 
the  appearance  of  profound  wisdom,  they  called  to  their  aid 
the  general  principle  that  it  is  imprudent  and  injurious  to 
let  people  see  the  whole  truth  at  once ;  that  it  is  not  only 
necessary  to  spare  sacred  prejudices,  but,  in  particular  cir- 
cumstances, an  act  of  benevolence  to  deceive  the  great  mass 
of  the  people.  This  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  almost 
all  the  ancient  philosophical  schools."*  No  further  proof  is 
needed  that  such  men  were  incapable  of  effecting  any  thing 
approximating  to  the  great  moral  revolution  produced  in  the 

"  Though  kings,  and  tyrants,  and  people  strove  to  extinguish  the  spark  of 
faith,  such  a  flame  of  true  religion  arose  as  filled  the  whole  world.  If  you  go 
to  India,  and  Scythia,  and  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth,  you  will  every  where 
find  the  doctrine  of  Christ  enlightening  the  souls  of  men."  Augustine,  of  the 
same  century,  speaking  of  the  heathen  philosophers,  says :  "  If  they  were  to 
live  again,  and  should  see  the  churches  crowded,  the  temples  forsaken,  and 
men  called  from  the  love  of  temporal,  fleeting  things  to  the  hope  of  eternal 
life  and  the  possession  of  spiritual  and  heavenly  blessings,  and  readily 
embracing  them,  provided  they  were  really  such  as  they  are  said  to  have  been, 
perhaps  they  would  say :  '  These  are  things  which  we  did  not  dare  to  say  to 
the  people ;  we  rather  gave  way  to  their  custom  than  endeavoured  to  draw  them 
over  to  our  best  thoughts  and  apprehensions.'  " 

Lardner,  ii.  614  and  597. 
*  Reinhard's  Plan.  n.  165.  6. 


LECTURE    IX. 


275 


world  by  the  power  of  the  gospel.  How  different  the  apos- 
tles !  boldly  attacking  all  vice,  superstition,  and  error,  at  all 
hazards,  in  all  places,  not  counting  their  lives  dear  unto 
them,  so  that  they  might  "testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God"  But  where  else  shall  we  turn  for  a  parallel  to  the 
work  we  have  described  1  What  efforts,  independently  of 
the  gospel,  were  ever  successful  in  the  moral  regeneration  of 
whole  communities  of  the  superstitious  and  licentious  ? 

The  only  event  in  the  annals  of  time  that  has  ever  been 
s opposed  to  bear  any  resemblance  to  the  propagation  of 
Christianity,  is  the  rapid  progress  of  Mohammedanism.  But 
a  little  reflection  will  show  you  that  the  single  fact  of  its 
rapid  and  extensive  progress  is  the  only  point  of  resemblance ; 
while,  in  every  thing  else,  there  is  direct  opposition.  Th6 
Koran  based  its  cause  upon  no  profession  of  miracles,  and 
therefore  had  no  detection  to  fear.  The  gospel  rested  all 
upon  its  repeated  miracles,  and,  consequently,  unless  it  had 
beeu  true,  would  have  been  certain  of  detection.  Moham- 
med was  of  the  most  powerful  and  honourable  family  in 
Mecca,  the  chief  city  of  his  nation  ;  and  though  not  rich  by 
inheritance,  became  so  by  marriage.  Jesus  was  of  a  family 
of  poor  and  unknown  inhabitants  of  an  obscure  village  in 
Judea,  and  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.  Mohammed 
began  his  work  among  the  rich  and  great.  His  first  three 
years  were  consumed  in  attaching  to  his  cause  thirteen  of  the 
chief  people  of  Mecca.  Jesus  commenced  among  the  poor. 
During  his  three  years  of  ministry  on  earth,  twelve  obscure 
Jews,  many  of  them  fishermen,  all  unlearned  and  powerless, 
were  his  chosen  disciples.  Of  the  first  thirteen  apostles  of 
the  Koran,  all  ultimately  attained  to  riches  and  honours,  to 
the  command  of  armies,  and  the  government  of  kingdoms 
Of  the  twelve  apostles  who  commenced  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel,  all  attained  to  the  utmost  poverty,  contempt,  and 
ignominy ;  and  all,  but  one,  to  a  violent  death  on  account 
of  their  cause.  The  age,  when  Mohammed  set  up  his  ban- 
ner, was  eminently  propitious  to  his  enterprise.  "  Nothing 


276  LECTURE    IX. 

can  equal  the  ignorance  and  darkness  that  reigned  in  this 
century."*  Science,  philosophy,  and  theology,  had  every 
where  declined  into  almost  nothingness.  The  age  when  the 
apostles  of  Christ  began  their  work  was  eminently  unpro- 
pitious  to  any  cause  but  that  of  God.  It  was  the  Augus- 
tan age.  Mohammedanism  took  its  rise  in  an  interior  town 
of  Arabia,  among  a  barbarous  people,  and  its  first  conquests 
were  among  the  rudest  and  least  enlightened  of  the  most 
ignorant  regions  of  the  world.  Christianity  arose  in  the 
splendid  metropolis  of  a  populous  and  intelligent  nation,  and 
achieved  her  earliest  victories  in  some  of  the  most  polished 
and  enlightened  cities  of  the  world.  In  the  town  of  Mecca, 
where  Mohammed  opened  his  mission,  there  was  no  estab- 
lished religion  to  contend  with.  In  the  city  of  Jerusalem, 
where  Jesus  and  his  apostles  began  their  work  of  love, 
an  established  religion  was  powerfully  fortified  within  the 
triple  wall  of  priest,  magistrate,  and  people,  and  defended 
by  all  the  powers  and  passions  of  the  nation.  When 
the  prophet  of  Arabia  appeared,  his  cause  was  favoured 
by  the  feuds  that  prevailed  among  the  Arab  tribes  around 
him,  and  by  the  bitter  dissensions  and  cruel  animosities  then 
reigning  among  various  sects  of  degenerate  Christians  ;  dis- 
sensions that  filled  the  greater  part  of  the  east  with  such 
enormities  as  rendered  the  very  name  of  Christianity  odious 
to  many.  When  the  great  Prophet  of  Christianity  appeared, 
the  temple  of  Janus  was  shut,  in  token  of  universal  peace, 
so  that  all  the  schools  of  philosophy,  all  sects  of  superstition, 
and  all  the  powers  and  animosities  of  the  nations  were  free 
to  combine  against  his  gospel.  Mohammed  attempted  to 
conciliate  the  prevailing  religion  of  the  empire,  by  preaching 
to  the  ignorant  generation  of  Christians  that  his  religion  was 
no  other  than  what  had  been  originally  their  own.  The 
unity  of  God,  the  prophetic  character  of  the  patriarchs  and 
prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  divine  mission  of 
Jesus, he  carefully  and  artfully  asserted;  pretending  to  restore 

*  Mosheim. 


LECTURE    IX.  277 

the  purity,  instead  of  attacking  the  foundations,  of  the  reli- 
gion they  had  taught.  This  was  politic.  The  apostles,  on 
the  other  hand,  attacked,  boldly,  and  unsparingly,  the  religion 
of  all  the  world.  While  asserting  the  essential  principles  of 
the  religion  of  Moses,  they  aimed  directly  at  the  subversion 
of  its,  then,  degenerate  institutions ;  and,  as  to  all  Gentile 
nations,  pretended  to  nothing  but  uncompromising  opposi- 
tion. This  certainly  was  any  thing  but  politic.  Moham 
med,  while  he  required  nothing  of  his  followers  that  called 
for  self-denial,*  expressly  sanctioned  and  promoted  their 
strongest  passions.  Impurity,  revenge,  ambition,  pride,  were 
his  cardinal  and  honoured  indulgences.  Thus  he  enticed 
human  nature.  I  need  not  say  that  the  requisitions  and 
allurements  proclaimed  by  the  apostles  of  Christ  were  pre- 
cisely the  contrary.  But  thus  they  repelled  human  nature. 

Even,  with  all  these  advantages  in  his  favour,  Mohammed, 
at  the  end  of  the  first  twelve  years  of  his  enterprise,  had  not 
extended  his  cause  beyond  the  walls  of  Mecca,  and  had 
gained  but  few  disciples  within  them,  because  his  efforts  had 
been  confined  to  persuasion.  While  Christianity  with  all  its 
disadvantages,  in  half  the  time  from  the  beginning  of  the 
ministry  of  Christ,  could  number  more  than,  ten  thousand 
disciples  in  Jerusalem,  and  churches  throughout  all  Judea, 
and  Galilee,  and  Samaria ;  and  yet  her  efforts  were  also  con- 
fined to  persuasion.  But  Mohammed,  after  twelve  years 
experience,  discovered  that,  even  with  all  his  indulgence  to 
passion  and  pride,  some  argument  much  more  cogent  than 
that  of  persuasion  was  necessary  to  convince  the  nations. 
This  was  found  at  the  edge  of  the  sword.  He  sounded  the 
trump  of  war  ;  promised  the  spoils  of  nations,  the  fairest  of 
the  captives,  and  the  most  luxurious  arbour  in  Paradise,  to 
those  who  would  join  his  standard.  Then,  proselytes  were 
multiplied.  The  roving  Arabs,  converted  to  the  faith  for  the 

*  The  prohibition  of  wine,  the  fast  of  Ramadan,  and  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca,  were  no  part  of  Mohammedanism  until  several  years  after  its  com- 
mencement, when  military  successes  had  completely  established  its  authortv 

23* 


278  LECTURE    IX. 

sake  of  the  plunder,  flocked  to  his  cause.  Death  or  conversion 
was  the  only  choice  of  the  idolater.  "  The  Koran,  the  tri- 
bute, or  the  sword,"  was  vouchsafed  to  Jews  and  Christians. 
Henceforward  the  demon  of  Mohammedanism  was  always 
seated  on  the  hilt  of  the  sword,  and  made  its  way  by  force 
and  slaughter.  How  and  why,  it  prevailed  both  rapidly  and 
extensively  from  this  time,  I  am  as  little  bound  to  explain,  as 
to  account  for  the  martial  prowess  of  Napoleon,  or  of  the 
Goths  and  Vandals.  It  was  the  success  of  the  warrior,  not 
of  the  prophet. 

But  I  may  not  leave  this  subject,  without  turning  what  to 
some  may  have  seemed  almost  parallel  to  the  success  of  the 
gospel,  into  an  auxiliary  illustration  of  its  superhuman  power. 
It  is  a  strong  fact,  in  evidence  that  God  was  on  the  side  of  the 
apostles,  that  when  they  had  every  thing  on  earth  to  contend 
with,  they  succeeded,  by  mere  efforts  of  persuasion,  in  sub- 
duing kingdoms,  and  bringing  innumerable  multitudes  to 
holiness  of  life ;  while  Mohammed  and  his  apostles,  in  the 
most  favourable  circumstances,  were  confined,  as  long  as 
they  used  no  weapon  but  that  of  persuasion,  to  a  few  follow- 
ers, and,  had  they  never  taken  the  sword,  would  probably 
never  have  been  heard  of  beyond  the  sands  of  Arabia. 

But  should  it  still  be  contended  that  the  success  of  the 
apostles  may  be  accounted  for  without  reference  to  super- 
natural aid ;  let  the  question  be  answered  why,  when  the 
same  human  means  have  since  been  employed  in  so  many 
instances,  nothing  even  approximating  to  the  same  results 
has  ever  ensued.  Jews  are  found  at  present  as  numerous  as 
ever.  Some  of  the  strongest  obstacles  which  opposed  the 
success  of  the  gospel  among  them,  in  the  apostolic  age,  do  not 
now  exist.  They  have  no  religious  establishment ;  no  regu- 
lar priesthood ;  no  power  to  persecute.  Christianity,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  established.  Instead  of  appearing  to  the  Jew 
as  a  thing  of  yesterday,  advocated  but  by  a  few  obscure  men, 
as  she  did  of  old ;  she  now  presents  herself  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  eighteen  centuries,  illustrated  by  the  learning  of  he* 


LECTURE   IX.  270 

disciples,  professed  by  all  civilized  nations.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  less  human  effort,  in  the  aggregate,  has  been  employed 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  than  was  used  by  the  twelve 
apostles.  Much  more  money  has  been  expended;  much 
more  learning  has  been  devoted  ;  much  more  human  power 
has  been  exerted;  many  more  individuals  have  been  em- 
ployed. The  same  gospel  has  been  preached.  The  same 
arguments  have  been  urged.  And  why  should  not  corre- 
sponding effects  appear  ?  "  There  is  reason  to  think  that 
there  were  more  Jews  converted  by  the  apostles  in  one  day, 
than  have  since  been  won  over  in  the  last  thousand  years."* 
The  simple  explanation  is  and  must  be,  that  the  great  power 
of  God  was  with  the  apostles  for  the  establishment  of  tht 
truth,  in  a  degree  far  greater  than  that  in  which  it  is  now 
vouchsafed  to  his  ministers  in  promoting  the  wide  extension 
of  the  truth. 

From  the  Jews  turn  to  the  heathens.  There  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  the  heathenism  of  the  present  day  is  any  more 
opposed  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity,  than  that  of  the 
world  in  the  age  of  the  apostles.  Instead  of  twelve,  there  are 
hundreds  of  labourers  in  this  field — men  of  education,  talent, 
indefatigable  zeal,  undaunted  devotion.  The  art  of  printing 
has  furnished  them  with  facilities  of  which  the  apostles,  un- 
less it  be  conceded  that  they  possessed  the  miraculous  gift  of 
tongues,  were  entirely  destitute.  The  scriptures  are  now 
circulated  in  full ;  while  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  the  canon 
being  incomplete,  they  were  circulated  only  in  parts.  In 
addition  to  all  this,  Christianity  is  recommended  among  many 
heathen  nations,  by  the  political  importance  of  the  countries 
from  which  its  preachers  have  gone,  and  in  some,  by  the 
actual  co-operation  of  Christian  powers  ruling  in  the  midst  of 
pagan  institutions.  With  these  important  advantages ;  what 
is  the  success  of  present  efforts  among  the  heathen  1  Enough, 
indeed,  to  reward  all  the  zeal  expended  in  their  support; 
enough  to  show  that  still  the  power  of  God  is  with  the  gospel, 

*  Bryant  on  the  Truth  of  Christianity. 


280 


LECTURE    IX. 


and  that  ample  encouragement  is  given  for  all  the  increase 
of  effort  which  Christians  can  ever  bestow  on  the  heathen ; 
but  notliing  comparable  with  the  success  of  the  apostles.  Paul 
was  instrumental  in  converting  more  heathens,  in  thirty  years, 
than  all  modern  missionaries  in  the  last  five  hundred.  Ex- 
plain this  fact !  It  is  absurd  to  attempt  it,  in  view  of  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  except  you  admit  the  solution 
given  by  Paul  himself — "  I  have  planted,  and  Apollos  water- 
ed ;  but  God  gave  the  increase."  Without  this  grand  truth, 
"  God  gave  the  increase  /'  Christianity  would  have  perished 
on  the  cross  of  its  founder. 

I  have  now  set  before  you  a  miracle,  the  evidence  of  which 
no  eye  can  be  too  blind  to  see:  Christianity  universally 
propagated  ;  and  yet  propagated  by  no  earthly  influence  but 
that  of  the  apostles.  This  is  the  miracle.  It  is  as  directly 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature  and  to  universal  experience, 
as  if,  at  the  word  of  man,  the  desert  of  Arabia  should  bud 
and  blossom  like  a  fruitful  garden,  or  the  sepulchre  give  up 
its  dead.  As  long  as  this  one  fact,  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity, shall  remain ;  the  gospel  will  be  supported  by  a 
pillar  of  evidence  which  infidels  can  only  remove  by  taking 
away  the  foundation  of  all  inductive  evidence,  and  bringing 
down  the  whole  temple  of  human  knowledge  to  their  own 
destruction. 

Now,  in  conclusion,  let  us  see  what  an  unbeliever  must 
believe  in  consistency  with  his  profession.  He  must  believe 
that  the  apostles  were  either  such  weak-minded  men  as  to 
imagine  that  their  crucified  Master  had  been  with  them,  from- 
time  to  time,  during  forty  days  after  his  burial,  had  conversed 
with  them,  and  eaten  with  them,  and  that  they  had  every 
sensible  evidence  of  his  resurrection,  while  in  truth  he  had 
not  been  near  them,  but  was  still  in  his  sepulchre ;  or  else 
that  they  were  so  wicked  and  deceitful  as  to  go  all  over  the 
world  preaching  that  he  was  risen  from  the  dead,  when  they 
knew  it  was  a  gross  fabrication.  Suppose  the  unbeliever  to 
rhoose  the  latter  of  these  alternatives.  Then  he  believes,  not 


LECTURE   IX.  281 

only  that  those  men  were  so  singularly  attached  to  this  un- 
truth as  to  give  themselves  up  to  all  manner  of  disgrace,  and 
persecution,  and  labour,  for  the  sake  of  making  all  the  world 
believe  it,  knowing  that  their  own  destruction  could  be  the 
only  consequence ;  but  also,  what  is  still  more  singular,  that 
when  they  plunged,  immediately  at  the  outset  of  their  ministry, 
into  an  immense  multitude  of  those  who,  having  lately  cruci- 
fied the  Saviour,  were  full  of  enmity  to  his  disciples  ;  they 
succeeded,  without  learning,  eloquence,  power,  or  a  single 
conceivable  motive,  in  making  three  thousand  of  them  be- 
lieve that  he,  whom  they  had  seen  on  the  cross,  was  indeed 
alive  again ;  and  believe  it  so  fully,  as  to  renounce  every  thing, 
and  be  willing  to  suffer  any  thing,  for  the  sake  of  it,  and  this 
on  the  very  spot  where  the  guards  that  had  kept  the  sepulchre 
were  at  hand  to  tell  what  was  become  of  the  body  of  Jesus. 
He  must  believe,  moreover,  that  although  in  attempting  to 
propagate  a  new  religion  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other,  they 
were  undertaking  what  was  entirely  new,  and  opposed  to  the 
views  of  all  nations ;  although  the  doctrines  they  preached 
were  resisted  by  all  the  influence  of  the  several  priesthoods ; 
all  the  power  of  the  several  governments  ;  all  the  passions, 
habits,  and  prejudices  of  the  people ;  and  all  the  wit  and  pride 
of  the  philosophers  of  all  nations ;  although  the  age  was  such  as 
insured  to  their  fabrications  the  most  intelligent  examination, 
with  the  strongest  possible  disposition  to  detect  them ;  although, 
in  themselves,  these  infatuated  men  were  directly  the  reverse 
of  what  such  resistance  demanded,  and,  when  they  com- 
menced, were  surrounded  by  circumstances  «of  the  most  de- 
pressing kind,  and  by  opposers  specially  exulting  in  the  confi- 
dence of  their  destruction  ;  although  the  mode  they  adopted 
was  of  all  others  most  calculated  to  expose  their  own  weakness 
and  dishonesty,  and  to  imbitter  the  enmity  and  increase  the 
contempt  of  their  opposers,  so  that  they  encountered  everv 
where  the  most  tremendous  persecutions,  till  torture  and  death 
were  almost  synonymous  with  the  name  of  Christian ;  al- 
though they  had  nothing  to  propose,  to  Jew  or  Gentile,  as  a 


LECTURE    IX. 

matter  of  faith,  but  what  the  wisdom  of  the  world  ridiculed, 
and  the  vice  of  the  world  hated,  and  all  men  were  united  in 
despising ;  although  they  had  nothing  earthly  with  which  to 
tempt  any  one  to  receive  their  fabrication,  except  the  necessity 
of  an  entire  change  in  all  his  habits  and  dispositions,  and  an 
assurance  that  tribulations  and  persecutions  must  be  his  por- 
tion :  Yet  when  philosophers,  with  all  their  learning,  and  rank, 
and  subtlety,  and  veneration,  could  produce  no  effect  on  the 
public  mind,  these  obscure  Galileans  obtained  such  influence, 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  most  enlightened  cities,  that,  in  thirty  years,  what 
they  themselves  (by  the  supposition)  did  not  believe,  they  made 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  all  classes,  philosophers,  senators, 
governors,  priests,  soldiers,  as  well  as  plebeians,  believe,  and 
maintain  unto  death ;  yea,  they  planted  this  doctrine  of  their 
own  invention  so  deeply  that  all  the  persecutions  of  three  hun- 
dred years  could  not  root  it  up ;  they  established  the  gospel  so 
permanently  that  in  three  hundred  years  it  was  the  established 
religion  of  an  empire  co-extensive  with  the  known  world,  and 
continues  still  the  religion  of  all  civilized  nations,  This,  says 
the  unbeliever,  they  did  simply  by  their  own  wit  and  in- 
dustry; and  yet,  he  well  knows  that,  preachers  of  the  gospel, 
with  incomparably  more  learning,  with  equal  industry,  in  far 
greater  numbers,  and  in  circumstances  immeasurably  more 
propitious,  have  attempted  to  do  something  of  the  same  kind 
among  heathen  nations,  and  could  never  even  approximate 
to  their  success.  Still  the  apostles  had  no  help  but  that  of 
their  own  ingenuity  and  diligence !  Such  is  the  belief  of 
the  unbeliever.  To  escape  acknowledging  that  the  apostles 
were  aided  by  miraculous  assistance,  he  makes  them  to  have 
possessed  in  themselves  miraculous  ability.  To  get  rid  of 
one  miracle  in  the  work,  he  has  to  make  twelve  miracles 
out  of  the  twelve  agents  of  the  work.  The  Christian  takes 
a  far  different  course.  "  Paul  planted,  Apollos  watered,  but 
God  gave  the  increase."  The  weapons  of  their  warfare 
wer<i  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God,  to  the  pulling1 


LECTURE  IX.  283 

down  of  strong  holds.  To  which  solution,  philosophy  or 
common  sense  would  award  the  prize  of  rational  decision,  it 
is  easy  to  determine. 

The  argument  from  the  propagation  of  Christianity  is  not 
yet  complete.  Satisfactory  already,  it  is  yet  to  receive  an 
immense  accession  of  strength.  "  The  wilderness  and  the 
solitary  place,"  the  immense  regions  of  Pagan  and  Moham- 
medan desolation,  shall  yet  be.glad  for  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel,  and  "the  desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 
Every  nation  and  kindred  shall  be  brought  "  into  captivity 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ,"  for  the  word  hath  gone  forth  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord:  "  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen  for 
thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession."  How  should  every  heart  respond  Amen  ! 
and  pray :  "  Thy  kingdom  come ;  thy  will  be  done  on 
as  it  is  in  heaven !" 


284  LECTURE  X. 


LECTURE    X, 

THE     FRUITS     OF     CHRISTIANITY. 

IN  our  preceding  lectures,  we  have  followed  the  currents 
of  three  independent  arguments,  each  of  which  was  found 
sufficient  to  conduct  us  to  a  complete  proof  of  the  divine 
authority  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  That,  to  which  we  now 
proceed,  is  especially  capable  of  being  "  known  and  read  of 
all  men,"  and  deserves  to  be  ranked  in  the  highest  class  of 
the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Our  blessed  Lord,  speaking 
of  false  pretenders  to  divine  revelation,  delivered  the  follow- 
ing rule,  by  which  they  might  be  distinguished :  "  Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  Jigs  of  thistles  ?  Even  so  every  good  tree  bring- 
eth  forth  good  fruit  ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil 
fruit.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them"  This 
is  a  test  universally  approved  of,  and  necessarily  employed. 
Its  influence  on  our  judgment  is  unavoidable ;  and  when 
properly  applied,  its  results  are  certain.  The  goodness  of  a 
tree  cannot  be  doubted,  while  we  know  the  excellence  of  its 
fruit.  No  more  reason  have  we  to  question  the  holy  charac- 
ter and  divine  origin  of  religion,  while  its  legitimate  effects 
on  the  lives  and  hearts  of  its  genuine  disciples  are  holy. 
We  may  come  to  an  erroneous  conclusion  by  judging  erro- 
neously of  the  fruit ;  by  ascribing  effects  to  causes  which  did 
not  produce  them ;  by  charging  upon  religion  a  train  of 
consequences  of  which  it  was  only  the  incidental  occasion, 
instead  of  the  natural  cause.  But  these  are  errors  in  the 
application,  and  independent  of  the  correctness  of  the  test. 
Whenever  you  have  ascertained  the  true  results  of  any  sys- 
tem of  doctrine,  you  have  found  a  plain  and  certain  expres- 
sion of  its  intrinsic  character.  It  is  good  in  proportion  as 


LECTURE    X.  285 

the  fruit  is  good.     If  its  fruit  be  godly,  it  must  itself  be 
of  God. 

Let  infidelity  be  always  tried  by  this  equitable  rule,  so  as 
to  receive  the  full  credit  of  all  the  evils  which  may  easily  be 
found  to  have  grown  upon  its  branches ;  let  it  be  stripped  of 
all  those  adventitious  circumstances  of  a  favourable  kind  for 
which  it  is  indebted  to  the  surrounding  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  few  eyes  will  fail  to  see  that  the  root  is  one  of 
bitterness,  and  the  tree  fit  only  to  be  cut  down  as  a  cumberer 
of  the  ground.  If  men  would  judge  Christianity  also,  by 
the  fair  application  of  this  rule,  carefully  separating  from 
her  genuine  productions  all  those  of  which,  however  enemies 
may  love  to  lay  them  to  her  charge,  she  is  only  the  innocent 
occasion  ;  it  would  require  but  little  discernment  to  be  con- 
vinced of  her  heavenly  origin,  and  of  the  duty  of  all  to 
spread  the  knowledge  and  acceptance  of  her  divine  revela- 
tion. Such  will  be  the  object  of  the  present  lecture.  Chris- 
tianity may  be  known  by  its  fruits.  Christians  are  desirous 
that  their  faith  should  be  judged  by  this  test,  as  well  as  by 
every  other  that  is  just  and  equal.  We  set  out,  therefore, 
with  this  question :  What  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity  1 
In  the  examination  of  this  subject,  we  will  consider, 

L  THE  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  ON  SOCIETY  IN 
GENERAL. 

IE.  ITS  EFFECTS  ON  THE  CHARACTER  AND  HAPPINESS 
OF  GENUINE  DISCIPLES. 

Reserving  the  latter  of  these  divisions  for  another  lec- 
ture, we  devote  our  attention  at  present  exclusively  to  the 
former. 

In  proceeding  to  illustrate  the  beneficial  effects  of  Chris- 
tianity on  society  in  general,  I  know  of  no  way  so  direct  as 
to  consider  in  what  condition  the  countries  now  blessed  with 
its  influence  would  have  remained,  had  they  been  left  to  the 
several  forms  of  religion  under  which  they  had  previously 
subsisted.  Let  us  take  a  brief  survey  of  the  moral  state  of 
the  ancient  world  in  the  age  when  the  preaching  of  the  cross 

24 


286  LECTURE  X. 

effected  its  wonderful  revolution  in  the  whole  fabric  of  soci- 
ety. And  that  we  may  not  be  accused  of  unfairness,  let  us 
take  into  view,  not  the  more  distant  and  uncivilized  pro- 
vinces, but  those<chief  central  states,  where  all  the  light  and 
moral  vigour  of  the  heathen  world  were  concentrated.  Let 
our  survey  be  confined  to  the  society  of  Italy  and  Greece, 
where  philosophy  held  her  court,  and  literature  and  the  arts 
were  cultivated  with  the  utmost  devotion  and  success.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  interests  of  truth,  the  history  of  Greece 
and  Rome  has  fallen,  for  the  most  part,  into  the  hands  of 
writers  much  more  concerned  with  their  intellectual  and 
martial  prowess,  than  their  moral  attainments  and  social 
virtues ;  so  that  while  the  reader  is  occupied  in  admiring  the 
acuteness  of  their  schoolmen,  the  taste  of  their  poets,  the 
perfection  of  their  arts,  and  the  warlike  character  of  their 
soldiery,  he  is  seldom  called  to  look  within  the  enclosures  of 
society,  and  inquire  how  they  lived,  what  manner  of  men 
they  were  in  their  families,  in  their  social  relations,  in  their 
moral  principles,  and  their  private  habits. 

A  certain  eminent  writer,  who  lived  in  the  age  to  which 
we  refer,  addressing  the  people  of  Rome,  describes  the  heathen 
population  of  the  civilized  world  as  given  up  to  the  vilest, 
most  unnatural,  and  beastly  affections ;  filled  with  all  unrigh- 
teousness and  degrading  wickedness ;  full  of  envy,  murder, 
deceit,  malignity ;  disobedient  to  parents ;  covenant-breakers, 
without  natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerciful,  not  only 
committing  such  things  as  were  worthy  of  death,  but  having 
pleasure  in  them  that  did  them.  Such,  according  to  St. 
Paul,  were  the  polished  Grecians  and  the  sterner  Romans.* 

1st.  Consider  their  religion.  "Professing  themselves  to 
be  wise,  they  became  fools,  and  changed  the  glory  of  the 
uncorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible 
man,  and  to  birds  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping 
things."t  Deities  were  multiplied  till  there  was  a  god  for 
every  thing,  and  any  thing  answered  for  a  god.  Athens  was 

*  Rom.  i.  29—33.  t  Rom.  i.  22,  23. 


LECTURE    X. 


287 


full  of  statues  dedicated  to  different  deities  ;  those  ol  various 
countries  being  so  crowded  together,  that  it  was  said  to  be 
"easier  to  find  a  god  than  a  man."  There  was  the  god 
Caius  Caesar,  and  the  god  Augustus  Caesar,  and  the  god  Lu- 
cius Caesar,  and  the  goddess  Julia,  the  profligate  daughter  of 
Augustus,  to  whom  the  rulers  of  Athens  ascribed  the  title  of 
Providence.  The  senate  of  the  Areopagus,  and  that  of  the 
six  hundred,  erected  her  statue,  and  enacted  her  divinity  ;  an 
altar  having  been  consecrated  many  years  before,  to  "  the 
Unknown  God"  Rome  exceeded  Athens  in  tho  number  of 
her  gods,  only  by  having,  as  the  mistress  of  the  world,  all 
nations  to  collect  from,  and  all  forms  of  paganism  to  counte- 
nance. "  The  deities  of  a  thousand  groves  and  a  thousand 
streams  possessed,  in  peace,  their  local  and  respective  influ- 
ence ;  nor  could  the  Roman,  who  deprecated  the  wrath  of 
the  Tiber,  deride  the  Egyptian  who  presented  his  offering  to 
the  beneficent  genius  of  the  Nile.  Every  virtue  and  even 
vice  acquired  its  divine  representative  ;.  every  art  and  pro- 
fession its  patron,  whose  attributes  in  the  most  distant  ages 
and  countries,  wer  j  uniformly  derived  from  the  character  of 
their  peculiar  votaries.  It  was  the  custom  (of  the  Romans  ; 
to  tempt  the  protectors  of  besieged  cities  by  the  promise  of 
more  distinguished  honours  than  they  possessed  in  their 
native  country.  Rome  gradually  became  the  common  tem- 
ple of  her  subjects,  and  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  bestowed 
on  all  the  gods  of  mankind."*  "In  this  mania  for  foreign 
gods,  the  nobles  and  the  emperors  themselves  set  the  most 
corrupting  examples.  Germanicus  and  Agrippina  devoted 
themselves  especially  to  Egyptian  gods.  So  also  Vespasian. 
Nero  served  all  gods  with  the  exception  of  the  Dea  Syra. 
Marcus  Aurelius  caused  the  priests  of  all  foreign  gods  and 
nations  to  be  assembled  in  order  to  implore  aid  for  the  Roman 
empire  against  the  incursions  of  the  Marcomanni.  Commodus 
caused  himself  to  be  initiated  into  the  mysteries  cf  the  Egyp- 
tian Isis  and  the  Persian  Mithras.  Severus  worshipped 

*  Gibbon's  Dec.  and  Fall,  i.  32,  35,  36. 


288  LECTURE   X. 

especially  the  Egyptian  Serapis ;  Caracalla  chiefly  the  Egyp- 
tian Isis ;  and  Heliogabalus  the  Syrian  deities ;  though  he 
was  desirous  of  becoming  a  priest  of  the  Jewish,  Samaritan, 
and  Christian  religions."* 

The  traditions  of  the  principal  divinities  of  the  ancient 
heathen  are  a  true  guide  to  the  vices  of  their  worship.  What 
the  gods  were  said  to  have  been  in  their  lives,  their  worship- 
pers were  actually  in  their  service.  "  It  is  a  shame,"  said  one 
who  knew  them  well,  "  even  to  speak  of  those  things  which 
were  done  of  them  in  secret."  The  chief  oracles  of  the  hea- 
thens appointed  human  sacrifices ;  so  that  not  only  the  barba- 
rians, but  even  the  Athenians,  Lacedaemonians,  and  Romans, 
were  accustomed  to  worship  idols  in  the  blood  of  their  fellow- 
creatures.  What  must  have  been  the  state  of  public  morals 
when  gods  were  patrons  of  vice,  and  their  rites  encouraged 
both  cruelty  and  obsceneness,  it  is  easier  to  imagine  than  de- 
scribe. "  Eusebius  is  compelled  to  use  language  when  de- 
scribing the  height  of  wickedness  and  impurity  which  the 
worship  of  the  heathens  attained,  such  as  no  virtuous  man 
can  read  without  shuddering."  The  gods  were  entreated,  by 
costly  offerings,  on  splendid  altars,  to  favour  the  indulgence 
of  unnatural  lusts ;  the  perpetration  of  murders ;  the  robbery 
of  the  orphan  and  the  widow.  Seneca  exclaims :  "  How  great 
is  now  the  madness  of  men  !  They  lisp  the  most  abomina- 
ble prayers  in  the  ears  of  the  gods.  And  if  a  man  is  found 
listening,  they  are  silent.  What  a  man  ought  not  to  hear, 
they  do  not  blush  to  rehearse  to  God."t  Well  might  St.  Paul 
describe  them  as  "given  up  to  uncleanness  through  tho 
lusts  of  their  own  hearts  "I 

2d.  Consider  the  spirit  of  cruelty  that  reigned  among  those 
people.  It  was  not  solely  owing  to  the  madness  and  depravity 
of  a  Tiberius,  a  Caligula,  a  Nero,  or  a  Caracalla,  that  a  cruel 
and  sanguinary  spirit,  in  their  day,  was  so  universal.  Had 
not  the  whole  mass,  the  peasant,  the  soldier,  the  citizen,  and 

*  Prof.  Tfcoluck  on  Heathenism. — Biblical  Repository, 

•  Epist.  10  t  See  Potter's  Antiquities,  ii.  301. 


LECTURE  X.  289 

he  senator,  as  well  as  the  prince,  been  foully  tainted,  the 
monstrous  enormities  of  those  vicious  tyrants  could  never 
have  been  perpetrated.  Such  was  the  cruelty  of  Romans  to 
their  slaves,  that  it  was  not  unusual  to  put  the  aged  and  use- 
less to  perish  on  an  island  in  the  Tiber ;  and  some  masters 
Would  even  drown  them,  as  food  for  the  inhabitants  of  their 
fish-ponds.*  Scenes  of  blood  and  slaughter  were  the  public 
diversions  of  the  people.  Witness  the  shows  of  gladiators  in 
the  crowded  amphitheatre,  when  to  celebrate  a  birth-day  or 
gratify  a  popular  whim,  crowds  of  captives  were  set  to  mutual 
slaughter,  or  else  to  contend  with  the  fury  of  wild  beasts. 
What  must  have  been  the  moral  sensibility  of  those  nations, 
of  which  the  most  refined  females  delighted  in  such  revolting 
cruelties,  criticising  the  skill  of  the  ferocious  swordsman,  and 
exclaiming  with  enthusiasm  at  the  graceful  stroke  that  opened 
the  heart  of  the  vanquished,  and  poured  out  his  lifeblood 
upon  the  arena !  t  St.  Paul  describes  the  heathen  community 
as  full  of  murder  and  malignity.  Hume,  speaking  of  "  the 

*  "  The  custom  of  exposing  old,  useless,  or  sick  slaves  on  an  island  of  the 
Tiber,  there  to  starve,  seems  to  have  been  pretty  common  in  Rome;  and 
whoever  recovered  after  having  been  so  exposed,  had  his  liberty  given  him 
by  an  edict  of  the  emperor  Claudius."  "  The  ergastula,  or  dungeons,  where 
slaves  in  chains  were  forced  to  work,  were  very  common  all  over  Italy."  "  A 
chained  slave  for  a  porter,  was  usual  in  Rome,  as  appears  from  Ovid  and 
other  authors."  The  evidence  of  slaves  "  was  always  extorted  by  the  most 
exquisite  torments." — Hume  on  the  Populousness  of  Ancient  Nations. 

t  "  Who,"  says  Hume,  "  can  read  the  accounts  of  the  amphitheatrical  en- 
tertainments without  horror?  or  who  is  surprised  that  the  emperors  should 
treat  people  in  the  same  way  the  people  treated  their  inferiors  ?  One's  hu- 
manity is  apt  to  renew  the  barbarous  wish  of  Caligula,  that  the  people  had 
but  one  neck.  A  man  could  almost  be  pleased,  by  a  single  blow  to  put  an 
end  to  such  a  race  of  monsters." — Note  to  Essay  on  the  Populousness  of  Ancient 
Nations. 

How  Cicero,  "the  mildest  of  all  pagan  philosophers  and  orators"  regarded 
with  an  inhuman  approbation  the  cruelties  above  named,  may  be  seen  from 
his  sayings,  as  quoted  in  Jortin's  Discourses  concerning  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  Religion.  He  states  that  the  supplications  of  a  poor  wretch  begging 
his  life,  on  the  arena,  only  made  the  spectators,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  more 
violent  against  him,  and  the  more  set  upon  his  death.  See  the  Oration  fot 
Milo. 

.*?»  •  24* 


290  LECTURE    X. 

most  illustrious  period  of  Roman  history,"  says  that  "  at  that 
t  ime,  the  horrid  practice  of  poisoning  was  so  common,  that 
during  part  of  a  season  a  praetor  punished  capitally  for  this 
crime  above  three  thousand  persons  in  a  part  of  Italy,  and 
found  informations  of  this  nature  still  multiplying  upon  him ! 
So  depraved  in  private  life,"  adds  the  historian,  "  were  that 
people  whom  in  their  history  we  so  much  admire."*  Murder 
was  in  common  practice  among  all  classes.  "  Such,"  says 
Gibbon,  "  was  the  unhappy  condition  even  of  Roman  empe- 
rors, that,  whatever  might  be  their  conduct,  their  fate  was 
commonly  the  same ;  almost  every  reign  is  closed  by  the 
same  disgusting  repetition  of  treason  and  murder."  Suicide, 
was  not  only  extensively  practised,  but  advocated  as  a  right, 
and  commended  as  virtuous.  Seneca  pleaded  for  it.  Cicero 
was  its  advocate.  Brutus,  and  Cassius,  with  many  others, 
both  defended  and  practised  it.  Cato  is  praised  by  Plutarch 
for  having  been  his  own  murderer.  These,  in  their  day, 
were  among  the  lights  of  the  heathen  world !  What  then, 
must  have  been  the  awful  deeds  of  darkness  among  the  more 
ignorant  populace ! 

They  were  "without  natural  affection."  Nothing  could 
exhibit,  in  a  more  appalling  light,  their  utter  annihilation  of 
moral  principle  and  natural  affection,  than  the  fact  that  "the 
exposition,  that  is,  the  murder  of  new  born  infants,  was  an 
allowed  practice  in  almost  all  the  states  of  Greece  and  Rome: 
even  among  the  polite  and  civilized  Athenians,  the  abandon- 
ing of  one's  child  to  hunger  or  to  wild  beasts  was  regarded 
without  blame  or  censure."t  "  This  practice,"  says  Hume, 
"  was  very  common ;  and  is  not  spoken  of  by  any  author  of 
those  times  with  the  horror  it  deserves,  or  scarcely  even  with 
disapprobation.  Plutarch, the  humane,  good-natured  Plutarch, 
mentions  it  as  a  merit  in  Attains,  king  of  Pergamus,  that  he 
murdered,  or,  if  you  will,  exposed  all  his  own  children  in 
order  to  leave  his  crown  to  the  son  of  his  brother,  Eumenes. 
It  was  Solon,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  sages  of  Greece,  that 

*  Essay  on  Politics.  t  Smith's  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiment*. 


LECTURE    X.  291 

gave  parents  permission  by  law  to  kill  their  children."*  Phi- 
losophers supported  the  custom  by  argument.  Aristotle  thought 
it  should  be  encouraged  by  the  magistrates.  Plato  maintained 
the  same  inhuman  doctrine.  It  was  complained  of,  as  a  great 
singularity,  that  the  laws  of  Thebes  forbade  the  practice. 
In  all  the  provinces,  and  especially  in  Italy,  the  crime  was 
daily  perpetrated.  From  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  Roman 
empire  was  stained  with  the  blood  of  murdered  infants. 
Think  of  the  state  of  domestic  virtue,  when  such  was  a 
prevailing  inhumanity  of  parents  ;  and  the  learned  defended 
it  as  wise;  the  magistrate  countenanced  it  as  useful;  and 
public  sentiment  regarded  it  as  innocent!  Such  was  the 
power  of  a  father  by  the  Roman  law,  that  his  adult  children 
might  be  sent  to  the  mines,  sold  into  slavery,  or  destroyed 
at  his  will ;  his  daughter  could  be  compelled,  at  his  Discretion, 
to  forsake  a  husband  whom  he  himself  had  approved,  while 
his  wife  could  be  dismissed  at  pleasure ;  and  for  certain 
crimes,  some  of  them  of  a  very  trivial  nature,  might  be  put 
to  death.  The  authority  of  the  father  was  that  of  a  despot. 
The  subjection  of  his  family  was  that  of  slaves. 

3d.  But  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  as  notorious  for  their 
departure  from  the  lowest  grade  of  decency,  as  for  their 
savage  disruption  of  all  the  ties  of  natural  affection.  Sallust, 
speaking  of  the  Roman  youth  in  the  time  of  Cicero,  says : 
"Luxury,  avarice,  and  pride,  enslaved  them ;  they  wantoned 
in  rapine  and  prodigality ;  undervalued  their  own,  and 
coveted  what  belonged  to  others ;  trampled  on  modesty, 
friendship,  and  continence ;  confounded  things  divine  and 
human,  and  threw  off  all  manner  of  consideration  and 
restraint."  "  Men  and  women  laid  aside  all  regard  to 
chastity."*  We  cannot  name  the  degrading  crimes  which  in 
Greece  were  sanctioned  by  the  public  laws,  and  at  Rome 
were  practised,  in  the  time  of  Seneca,  without  shame.  It 
was  considered  a  singular  example  in  Athens,  that  the  most 

*  Hume  on  the  Populousness  of  Ancient  Nations, 
t  Rose's  Trarisl:;t.ii»n. 


292  LECTURE  X. 

moral  philosopher  did  not  indulge  in  them.  Even  Cicero 
could  speak,  without  any  sign  of  disapprobation,  of  Cotta, 
an  eminent  Roman,  as  having  owned  an  habitual  addiction  to 
the  vileness  we  are  alluding  to,  and  as  having  quoted  the 
authorities  of  ancient  philosophers  in  its  vindication.  There 
was  no  species  of  degrading  crime  which  had  not  its 
attempted  justification  in  the  written  doctrines,  and  its 
shameless  perpetration  in  the  avowed  practices,  of  the  wise 
men,  and  such  as  are  usually  supposed  to  have  been  the 
good  men,  of  the  most  civilized  nations  of  antiquity. 
Quinctilian,  speaking  of  the  philosophers  of  the  first  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  says :  "  The  most  notorious  vices  are 
screened  under  that  name  ;  and  they  do  not  labour  to  main- 
tain the  character  of  philosophers  by  virtue  and  study,  but 
conceal  tl^e  most  vicious  lives  under  an  austere  look  and 
singularity  of  dress."*  Such,  also,  is  the  acknowledgment 
of  Plutarch,  with  regard  to  the  ancient  philosophers  in 
general.  While  he  owns  that  they  were  generally  rioted  for 
a  certain  infamous  vice  which  we  cannot  name ;  he  excuses 
them  by  the  plea  that  they  unproved  their  minds  at  the 
same  time  that  they  corrupted  their  bodies.  Lucian  and 
others  unite  in  this  representation.  Neither  Seneca,  nor 
Xenophon,  nor  Plato,  nor  Aristotle,  nor  even  Socrates, 
whose  morals  have  been  extolled  by  infidels,  as  surpassing 
any  thing  in  the  Bible,  is  excepted  from  the  revolting 
account  of  these  writers.  Granting  that  jealousy  and 
calumny,  among  the  ancients,  included  some  of  those  illus- 
trious names  under  a  charge  so  degrading;  what  must 
have  been  the  character  of  the  great  mass  of  the  philoso- 
phers, when  calumny  durst  venture  so  far  ?t 

Such  were  the  men  whom  our  modern  reformers  would 
hold  up  i/>  the  public  as  patterns  of  virtue.  "  They  opposed 
each  other,"  says  Voltaire,  "  in  their  dogmas ;  but  in  morality 
they  were  all  agreed."  "  There  has  been  no  philosopher,  in 
all  antiquity,  who  has  not  been  desirous  of  making  men 

*  Q,uir  ctilian,  Inst.  Oral.  t  See  M'Rnight  on  Rom.  i.  23,  37- 


LECTURE  X.  293 

better."  To  the  truth  of  the  first  assertion,  we  have  no 
reason  to  object.  In  a  sense  directly  opposite  to  that  in 
which  the  writer  intended  it  to  be  understood,  they  were 
indeed  in  morality  all  agreed.  As  to  their  unanimous 
desire  of  making  men  better,  we  can  only  say  that  they 
adopted  the  most  singular  means  of  effecting  it.  A  Roman 
citizen,  of  the  Augustan  age,  described  them  as  those  who, 
being  past  feeling,  had  given  themselves  over  unto  lascivious- 
ness  to  work  all  undeanness  with  greediness* 

We  have  now  exhibited  some  of  the  prominent  features  in 
the  moral  character  of  the  society  of  Greece  and  Rome,  in 
their  most  enlightened  ages.  From  what  has  been  stated, 
we  may  form  a  conception  sufficiently  accurate  of  the  condi- 
tion of  things  in  all  those  departments  of  morality  on  which 
depends  whatever  is  important  to  personal,  domestic,  and 
public  happiness.  We  have  been  speaking  of  the  most 
cultivated  people  of  the  ancient  world.  Unspeakably  darker 
and  more  appalling  would  have  been  the  picture,  had  we 
described  the  spirit,  habits,  and  prevading  crimes  of  any 
other  pagan  nations.  But  we  are  content  that  a  fair  repre- 

*  Among  the  philosophers  of  the  time  of  Cicero,  the  Cynics  were  held  in 
great  repute,  and  were  widely  spread  throughout  the  Roman  empire.  The 
wise  man  of  this  school  "gave  up  all  human  relations  towards  mankind; 
contemned  his  country,  his  kindred,  and  the  joys  of  wedded  love,  and  sought 
his  consolation  in  a  self-complacent  beastliness.  One  might  see  these  beastly 
men  half  naked,  moving  about  every  where,  with  a  great  cudgel  and  a  bread- 
bag,  performing  the  animal  necessities  of  their  nature  before  the  eyes  of  all ; 
thrusting  themselves,  with  extreme  rudeness,  among  the  multitudes,  and  there 
stepping  forward  as  teachers  of  wisdom ;  not  in  a  regular  discourse,  but  with 
abrupt  and  broken  language  of  vulgar  sport  and  derision."  And  yet  even  the 
New  Platonic  philosophers  greatly  revered  Cynicism,  and  represented 
Diogenes,  its  leader,as  a  godlike  man. 

Whoever  may  desire  a  more  extended  account  of  ancient,  classic  heathen- 
ism, in  regard  to  its  gross  superstition,  its  disgusting  sensuality,  its  obscene 
idols  and  ceremonies,  its  human  sacrifices,  its  legalized  cruelties,  the  odious 
vices  of  those  who  conformed  to  it,  and  its  utter  impotency  for  all  purposes 
of  moral  improvement,  is  referred  to  an  article,  already  quoted,  OP.  the  Nature 
and  Influence  of  Heathenism,  by  Prof.  Tholuck,  of  Halle,  in  Nos.  vi.  and 
vii.  of  tke  Biblical  Repository,  Andover. 


294  LECTURE  X. 

sentation  of  the  best,  should  also  be  received  as  a  good 
1  ikeness  of  the  worst  communities  of  ancient  heathenism. 

We  ask,  what  has  become  of  all  these  deep  rooted  defor- 
mities ?  Look  around  upon  the  countries  over  which  the 
influence  of  Christianity  has  been  exerted;  those  especially 
where  the  religion  of  Jesus  has  been  enjoyed  in  the  greatest 
purity,  and  cultivated  with  the  truest  devotion.  Where  are 
the  remains  of  the  abominations  we  have  described !  Crime 
remains  indeed;  but  only  in  hidden  dens.  It  shuns  the 
ight.  Laws  do  not  afford  it  countenance.  Public  sentiment 
drives  it  into  concealment.  What  would  the  feeling  of  soci- 
ety now  say  to  a  show  of  gladiators  ;  to  the  legalized  expo- 
sure of  infants  by  the  hands  of  mothers ;  to  the  public,  deli- 
berate murder  of  worn  out  slaves ;  to  the  justification  of 
suicide,  and  theft,  and  lying,  and  assassination,  and  the  ac- 
knowledged practice  of  the  most  odious  sensuality,  by  those 
who  are  looked  up  to  as  the  moral  teachers  and  examples  of 
society?  How  would  idolatry,  with  all  its  cruelties  and 
obscenities ;  its  profligate  deities ;  its  human  sacrifices ;  its 
hidden  mysteries  of  iniquity ;  and  its  public  ritual  of  vice, 
affect  the  public  mind,  were  its  temples,  and  images,  and 
lascivious  ceremonies  now  set  up  in  our  cities  ?  It  .is  not 
enough  to  say  that  in  countries  where  all  these  abominations 
once  rioted  without  restraint  and  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
public  taste,  they  have  long  since  been  driven  away  with 
abhorrence.  Positive  blessings,  in  every  form  and  for  every 
class  of  society,  have  risen  up  in  their  place.  A  measure  of 
virtue  which  would  have  singled  out  an  ancient  philosopher 
as  a  wonderful  exception  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  is  absolutely 
necessary  at  present  to  a  character  of  ordinary  decency. 
Benevolence,  such  as  was  not  known  in  Greece  or  Rome,  and 
had  it  appeared,  would  not  have  been  comprehended,  is  now 
a  matter  of  common,  daily  intercourse  between  man  and 
man.  An  incalculable  improvement  has  been  effected  in  all 
departments  of  human  affairs,  from  the  administration  of 
national  government  down  to  the  most  retired  relations  of 


LECTURE    X.  295 

s 
the  family  circle.     What  rulers  would  have  been  remarkable 

once  for  not  doing,  the  people  would  now  expel  them  for 
attempting.  A  spirit  of  equity,  moderation,  and  respect  for 
the  interests  and  happiness  of  the  community,  is  required  in 
the  governments  of  countries  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  was  hardly  conceived  of  by  the  nations  of 
antiquity,  and,  if  it  ever  appeared,  was  a  marvellous  excep- 
tion to  general  rule.  Laws,  regenerated  in  their  principles, 
are  enacted  in  wisdom,  and  executed  with  a  faithfulness 
unknown  to  the  heathen.  Instead  of  the  despotic  harshness 
with  which  a  father  was  once  permitted  to  rule  his  children 
and  his  wife,  as  his  tools  and  slaves ;  universal  sentiment 
demands  it,  as  necessary  even  to  decency,  that  he  shall  be 
kind  to  them  as  his  own  flesh,  and  as  the  rightful  sharers  in 
all  his  comforts.  Women  have  been  elevated  from  the  rank 
of  beasts  of  burden,  to  an  equal  participation  in  all  the 
refinements  and  blessings  of  society.  The  condition  of  the 
dependant  classes  of  the  community  has  been  raised  from 
that  of  contempt,  and  oppression,  and  utter  ignorance,  to  a 
level,  in  point  of  natural  right,  with  all;  while  education 
shines  upon  their  dwellings,  and  religion  seeks  their  souls,  as- 
worthy  of  all  sacrifices  which  Christian  benevolence  caii 
make  for  their  salvation. 

Efforts  to  provide  for  the  sick,  the  destitute,  the  orphan, 
the  widow,  were  unknown  among  the  ancients.  Rome, 
Athens,  Corinth,  contained  no  hospitals,  no  asylums,  no  pub- 
lic charities,  no  systems  of  gratuitous  education.  Such  deeds 
of  benevolence  were  impossible  among  a  people  who  were 
accustomed  to  look  upon  all  forms  of  human  suffering  with 
indifference,  and  to  derive  enthusiastic  amusement  from  their 
promotion.  In  vain  are  the  writings  of  their  moralists 
examined  for  exhortations  to  any  thing  like  an  active  con- 
cern for  the  poor  or  the  ignorant.  An  orphan  child  was  no 
object  of  public  compassion  in  countries  where  orphans  were 
daily  and  deliberately  made,  and  left  to  perish  by  cold-blooded 
\bandonment  on  the  part  of  their  parents. 


296 


LECTURE    X. 


But  what  new  sympathies  sprung  up  immediately  where 
the  gospel  prevailed !  It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  whole 
Christian  community  to  provide  for  the  stranger,  the  poor, 
the  sick,  the  aged,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan.  For  this  one 
object,  public  contributions,  at  the  time  of  divine  service, 
were  established,  and  private  donations  were  multiplied. 
How  much  such  benevolence  was  insisted  on,  may  be  judged 
from  a  passage  of  Tertullian,  where,  speaking  of  the  impedi- 
ments which  a  Christian  woman  would  encounter  by  mar- 
riage with  a  heathen,  he  says :  "  What  heathen  will  suffer 
his  wife,  hr  visiting  the  brethren  to  go  from  street  to  street, 
into  strangers',  and  even  into  the  most  miserable  cottages  ? 
"Who  will  suffer  them  to  steal  into  prisons,  to  kiss  the  chains 
of  martyrs  ?  If  a  stranger-brother  comes,  what  reception 
will  he  find  in  a  stranger's  house?  If  she  has  alms  to  bestow, 
the  safe  and  the  cellar  are  closed  to  her." 

What  the  gospel  effected,  in  promoting  benevolence,  and 
trampling  down  all  the  obstacles  of  selfishness  and  fear, 
when  good  was  hardly  to  be  done  but  at  the  cost  of  life,  may 
be  seen  from  the  following  representation  of  Dionysius,  bishop 
of  Alexandria,  who  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the 
contrast  between  heathens  and  Christians,  when  a  terrible 
pestilence  was  raging  in  that  city.  "  That  pestilence  appeared 
to  the  heathen  as  the  most  dreadful  of  all  things,  as  that 
which  left  them  no  hope ;  not  so,  however,  did  it  seem  to 
us,  but  only  a  peculiar  and  practical  trial.  The  greater  part 
of  our  people,  in  the  abundance  of  their  brotherly  love,  did 
not  spare  themselves  ;  and  mutually  attending  to  each  other, 
they  would  visit  the  sick  without  fear,  and  ministering  to 
them  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  they  would  cheerfully  give  up 
their  life  with  them.  Many  died,  after  their  care  had  restored 
others  from  the  disease  to  health.  The  best  among  our 
brethren,  some  priests  and  deacons,  and  some  who  were  cele- 
brated among  the  laity,  died  in  this  manner,  and  such  a 
death,  the  fruit  of  great  piety  and  strong  faith,  is  hardly  infe- 
rior to  martyrdom.  Many  who  took  the  bodies  of  their 


LECTURE   X.  297 

Christian  brethren  into  their  hands  and  bosoms,  closed  their 
mouth  and  eyes,  and  buried  them  with  every  attention,  soon 
followed  them  in  death.  But  with  the  heathen,  matters  stood 
quite  differently;  at  the  first  symptom  of  sickness,  they  drove 
a  man  from  their  society ;  they  tore  themselves  away  from 
their  dearest  connexions  ;  they  threw  the  half  dead  into  the 
streets,  and  left  the  dead  unburied  ;  endeavouring  by  all  the 
means  in  their  power  to  escape  contagion,  which,  notwith- 
standing all  their  contrivances,  it  was  very  difficult  for  them 
to  accomplish." 

"  In  the  same  manner,"  writes  Neander,  from  whose  church 
history  the  above  is  taken,  "  the  Christians  of  Carthage  let 
the  light  of  their  love  and  Christian  conduct  shine  before  the 
heathen  in  a  pestilence  which  visited  North  -Africa  a  little 
before,  in  the  reign  of  Gallus.  The  heathen,  out  of  cowardice, 
left  the  sick  and  the  dying;  the  streets  were  full  of  corpses, 
which  no  man  dared  to  bury ;  and  avarice  was  the  only 
passion  which  mastered  the  fear  of  death  ;  for  wicked  men 
endeavoured  to  make  a  gain  out  of  the  misfortunes  of  their 
neighbours  ;  and  the  heathen  accused  the  Christians  of  being 
the  cause  of  this  calamity,  as  enemies  of  the  gods,  instead 
of  being  brought  by  it  to  the  consciousness  of  their  own  guilt 
and  corruption.  But  Cyprian  required  of  his  church  that 
they  should  behold,  in  this  desolating  pestilence,  a  trial  of 
their  dispositions.  '  How  necessary  is  it,  my  dearest  breth- 
ren,' he  says  to  them,  '  that  this  pestilence,  which  appears  to 
bring  horror  and  destruction,  should  prove  the  consciences 
of  men !  It  will  determine  whether  the  healthy  will  take 
care  of  the  sick,  whether  relations  bear  tender  love  ojie  to 
another,  and  whether  masters  care  for  their  sick  servants.' 
That  the  Christians  should  show  a  spirit  of  mutual  love 
among  themselves,  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  a  bishop  who 
formed  his  notions  after  the  model  of  the  great  Shepherd. 
He  therefore  called  his  church  together,  and  addressed  them 
thus:  'If  we  do  good  only  to  our  own  people,  we  do  no  more 
than  publicans  and  heathens.  But  if  we  are  the  children 

25 


298  LECTURE   X. 

of  God,  who  makes  his  sun  shine  and  his  rain  to  descend 
upon  the  just  and  the  unjust ;  who  sheds  abroad  his  bless- 
ings, not  on  his  own  alone,  but  even  upon  those  whose 
thoughts  are  far  from  him ;  we  must  show  this  by  OUT 
actions,  endeavouring  to  become  perfect  as  our  Father  in 
heaven  is  perfect,  and  blessing  those  who  curse,  and  doing 
good  to  those  who  persecute  us.'  Encouraged  by  this  pa- 
ternal admonition,  the  members  of  the  church  addressed 
themselves  to  the  work ;  the  rich  contributing  money,  and 
the  poor  their  labour ;  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  streets  were 
cleared  of  the  corpses  who  filled  them,  and  the  city  saved 
from  the  dangers  of  a  universal  pestilence."* 

That  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christians  is  still  the  charac- 
teristic spirit  of  Christianity,  in  regard  to  all  works  of  charity, 
may  easily  be  seen.  Go  where  the  gospel  has  attained  the 
greatest  supremacy,  and  behold  how  every  form  of  human 
misery  is  met  by  the  self  denying  diligence,  and  comforted  by 
the  munificence,  of  the  benevolent.  What  conceivable  method 
of  removing  distress,  of  preventing  vice,  and  disseminating 
happiness,  has  not  been  put  in  operation  ?  The  whole  Roman 
empire  had  not  one  benevolent  institution.  The  single  city 
of  London  counts  her  three  hundred !  And  why  is  so  little 
said  or  thought  of  them,  except  that  the  public  mind  has  be- 
come so  accustomed  to  the  noblest  efforts  of  benevolence,  that 
they  are  now  regarded  almost  as  matters  of  course — the 
natural  consequence  of  prevailing  principles  of  brotherly 
kindness  and  charity  ? 

It  is  not  my  design  to  exhibit  any  thing  like  a  full  length 
portrait  of  the  contrast  between  the  civilization  of  modern, 
and  that  of  ancient  nations.  It  is  seen  in  all  the  relations  of 
life ;  in  the  whole  fabric  of  society,  from  the  government  of 
the  family,  to  that  of  the  state ;  from  the  tender  cares  of  the 
cradle  and  the  mother  to  the  wide  concerns  of  communities 
and  rulers.  Every  thing  has  felt  the  change.  Though  not 
perfect,  it  is  immense.  Much  remains  to  be  done,  but  mighty 

*   Rose.'*  translation  of  TVfander's  Ch.  Hist. 


LECTURE  X.  299 

improvements  have  been  effected.  Were  the  whole  work 
undone  •  should  the  sun,  which  now  enlightens  the  moral 
world,  be  commanded  to  go  back,  and  suffer  the  classic 
paganism  of  Greece  and  Rome  to  resume  its  sway ;  every 
joint  in  the  mechanism  of  society  would  groan  with  pain ; 
every  corner  in  the  household  of  civilized  beings  would  be 
filled  with  darkness ;  the  transition  from  the  arts  and  litera- 
ture of  England  to  those  of  Hottentots  or  New  Zealanders, 
would  not  be  greater  than  such  a  change  from  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  present  age,  to  the  highest  refinements  of  the 
purest  nations  of  antiquity. 

Such  is  the  fact.  It  remains  to  be  accounted  for.  What 
produced  this  change  ?  The  religion  of  ancient  heathens 
pleads  "  not  guilty"  to  the  charge.  It  had  no  reference  to 
morals.  The  vilest  crimes  and  the  highest  repute  for  piety 
were  perfectly  consistent  with  each  other,  among  heathens 
of  the  Augustan  age.  It  was  no  part  of  the  business  of  then 
priests  to  teach  men  virtue.  No  religion  but  that  of  the 
Bible  ever  possessed  or  aimed  at  the  power  of  reformation. 
Equally  clear  are  the  literature,  and  philosophy,  and  arts  of 
antiquity  from  the  imputation  of  this  mighty  revolution. 
Never  did  they  prevail  so  extensively  among  the  heathen,  as 
in  the  first  century  of  Christianity ;  arid  never  weie  they  ac- 
companied with  such  moral  degradation.  Philosophy  had 
as  little  disposition,  as  ability  to  reform.  Whatever  light  it 
may  have  possessed,  it  monopolized ;  holding  its  truth  in  un- 
righteousness, and  studiously  conforming  its  practice  to  the 
worst  abominations.  "  Cicero  declares  that  the  ancient  phi- 
losophers never  reformed  either  themselves  or  their  disciples ; 
and  that  he  knew  not  a  single  instance  in  which  either  th 
teacher  or  the  disciple  was  made  virtuous  by  their  principles."* 

*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 

"  In  their  writings  and  conversation,  the  philosophers  of  antiquity  asserted 
the  independent  dignity  of  reason;  but  they  resigned  their  actions  to  the  com- 
mands of  law  and  custom.  Viewing  with  a  smile  of  pity  and  indulgence  the 
various  errors  of  the  vulgar,  they  diligently  practised  the  ceremonies  of  their 
fathers,  devoutly  frequented  the  temples  of  the  gods ;  and,  sometimes  conde- 


300  LECTURE   X. 

But  ft  may  be  supposed  that,  without  any  other  cause 
than  its  own  natural  fluctuation,  the  moral  condition  of 
ancient  nations  may  have  taken  a  change,  like  the  tides  ol 
the  ocean,  and  begun  to  rise  from  the  mere  fact  of  being  re- 
duced to  so  low  an  ebb.  Answer  this  by  the  present  state  of 
those  nations  that  continued  under  the  native  influence  of 
paganism.  In  which  of  them  was  such  a  thing  ever  known, 
as  a  reformation  of  public  morals '}  Their  unvaried  history, 
from  the  days  of  Moses  to  the  present,  settles  the  matter,  that 
heathenism  has  no  power,  but  of  progressive  corruption ; 
and,  left  to  itself,  can  only  reduce  its  votaries  into  deeper 
and  deeper  debasement.  Then,  if  the  vast  improvement  in 
question  is  neither -the  consequence  of  the  religion,  nor  the 
philosophy,  nor  the  arts,  nor  the  literature,  nor  of  any 
natural  reaction  in  the  moral  state  of  the  ancient  heathen ;  to 
what  other  cause  must  it  be  assigned  ?  History  has  but  one 
answer.  Reason  has  but  one  answer.  Christianity  alone ; 
single-handed,  persecuted  Christianity,  by  the  agency  of 
twelve  obscure  Jews,  began  the  wonderful  change,  and  under 
the  favour  of  God,  has  accomplished  its  every  step  of  ad- 
vancement. Till  such  a  thing  as  the  religion  of  Christ  ap- 
peared in  the  world,  a  reformation  of  heathen  society  was 
never  dreamed  of.  Till  Christians  appeared  among  the 
Gentiles,  none  had  ever  adventured,  none  were  ever  disposed, 
to  labour  for  the  improvement  of  mankind.  Christian  writers 
were  the  first  that  dared  to  drag  the  abominations  of  classic 
antiquity  to  light,  and  brand  them  with  the  condemnation 
of  truth  and  righteousness.  The  first  Christian  emperor 

scending  to  act  a  part  on  the  theatre  of  superstition,  they  concealed  the  senti- 
ments of  an  Atheist  under  the  sacerdotal  robes.  It  was  indifferent  to  them 
what  shape  the  folly  of  the  multitude,  might  choose  to  assume;  and  they  ap- 
proached, with  the  same  inward  contempt  and  the  same  external  reverence, 
the  altars  of  the  Lybian,  the  Olympian,  or  the  Capitoline  Jupiter." — Gibbon's 
History,  i.  34. 

A  sorry  tribute,  by  a  philosopher,  to  the  benevolence  and  honesty  of  his 
ancient  brethren.  Paul  would  have  drawn  their  picture  with  a  darker  pencil 
stiii  Paul's  Master  would  have  named  them  "hypocrites,"  "whiled  sepulchres" 


LECTURE   X.  301 

issued  the  first  prohibition  of  inhuman  practices  and  amuse- 
ments, which  many  centuries  had  sanctioned.  Till  the 
gospel  set  up  its  churches  and  gathered  its  disciples,  the 
gentile  world  had  never  seen  such  a  spectacle  as  that  of  a 
society  united  by  bands  of  love ;  shining  in  the  beauty  of 
holiness ;  animated  with  zeal  to  do  good  at  the  expense  of 
self-denial  and  sacrifice. 

How  exclusively  the  happy  effects  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking  are  the  fruit  of  Christianity,  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that,  when  you  take  up  a  map  of  the  world  arid  mark  out 
the  boundaries  of  Christendom,  you  mark  also  the  boundaries 
of  all  civilization  and  refinement ;  that  as  you  approach  the 
regions  where  the  Bible  is  best  known  and  most  obeyed,  you 
perceive  a  rapid  increase  of  all  the  virtues,  and  charities,  and 
blessings  of  which  the  society  of  man  is  capable ;  that  the 
highest  elevation  of  the  human  character  is  where  Chris- 
tianity reigns  in  her  purest  form,  and  the  blackest  page  in 
the  history  of  Christendom,  the  page  most  polluted  with  vice, 
and  red  with  cruelty  and  murder,  is  the  record  of  the  people 
who  trampled  down  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  decreed  the 
living  God  out  of  existence,  and  attempted  to  raise  the  deities 
of  ancient  paganism  from  the  dead.  That  many  individuals 
who  deny  the  truth,  and  profess  to  be  free  from  the  influence 
of  Christianity,  are  decent  men  and  far  removed  from  the 
condition  of  the  heathen  in  point  of  moral  precept,  as  well 
as  practice,  is  no  evidence  against  our  position.  The  light 
of  Christianity  is  all  about  them,  and  they  cannot  help  seeing 
by  its  aid.  They  have  learned  Christian  truth  from  their 
childhood,  and  it  cannot  be  unlearned.  Do  what  they  may, 
they  cannot  think  or  act  without  its  influence.  They  may 
boast  the  sufficiency  of  their  own  reason,  but  they  can  no 
more  exercise  their  reason  without  the  aid  of  revelation,  than 
they  can  breathe  the  air  of  spring  without  the  fragrance  of 
its  flowers.  "  On  all  questions  of  morality  and  religion,  the 
streams  of  thought  have  flowed  through  channels  enriched 

•vith  a  celestial  ore,  whence  they  have  derived  the  tincture 

25* 


302  LECTURE   X. 

to  which  they  are  indebted  for  their  rarest  and  most  salutary 
qualities."*  What  a  community  of  deists  would  be  without 
Christianity,  can  only  be  known  by  remembering  what  deists 
were  before  Christianity  came  into  the  world,  and  what  they 
became,  when  in  France  they  supposed  they  had  almost  ban- 
ished her  from  the  earth. 

How  remarkable  are  the  confessions  of  infidels  to  the 
excellent  fruit  and  indispensable  influence  of  the  gospel ! 
Bolingbroke  acknowledges,  "  that  Constantine  acted  the  part 
of  a  sound  politician  in  protecting  Christianity,  as  it  tended 
to  give  firmness  and  solidity  to  his  empire,  softened  the  fero- 
city of  the  army,  and  reformed  the  licentiousness  of  the 
provinces,  and  by  infusing  a  spirit  of  moderation  and  sub- 
mission to  government,  tended  to  extinguish  those  principles 
of  avarice  and  ambition,  injustice  and  violence,  by  which 
so  many  factions  were  formed."  "No  religion,"  says  the 
same  opposer  of  Christianity,  "  ever  appeared  in  the  world 
whose  natural  tendency  was  so  much  directed  to  promote  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  mankind.  It  makes  right  rdason  a 
law  in  every  possible  definition  of  the  word.  And  therefore, 
even  supposing  it  to  have  been  purely  a  human  invention,  it 
had  been  the  most  amiable  and  the  most  useful  invention 
that  was  ever  imposed  on  mankind  for  their  good."  Thus 
even  Rousseau  :  "  If  all  were  perfect  Christians,  individuals 
would  do  their  duty ;  the  people  would  be  obedient  to  the 
laws  ;  the  magistrates  incorrupt ;  and  there  would  be  neither 
vanity  nor  luxury  in  such  a  state."  Such  are  the  confessions 
of  many  other  writers  of  the  same  class.  And  yet  these 
men  would  run  the  ploughshare  through  the  foundations  of 
the  church  of  Christ,  so  that  one  stone  should  not  be  left  upon 
another.  So  much  for  the  consistency,  the  virtue,  and  dis- 
interested benevolence  of  infidelity ;  or  rather  so  much  for 
the  contradiction  between  its  head  and  its  heart,  its  convic- 
tions and  its  vices. 

I  know  of  nothing,  in  the  way  of  fact,  more  strikingly 

*  Robert  Hall. 


LECTURE    X.  303 

illustrative  of  the  legitimate  fruits  of  Christianity  ;  more  com- 
pletely in  proof  that  all  the  social  and  moral  blessings  which 
civilized  nations  at  present  enjoy,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  her 
influence ;  and  that  what  she  once  was,  as  a  tree  of  life  to  the 
nations,  she  is  now,  and  ever  will  be  ;  than  the  history  of  the 
missions  among  the  heathen,  which  protestant  Christians  are 
now  sustaining.  Here  we  have  experiments  of  her  power 
in  all  climates,  over  all  habits  and  dispositions,  and  with  all 
classes  of  mind.  She  has  gone  in  among  the  ice-bound  in- 
habitants of  Greenland,  whose  intellect  was  as  slow,  and 
sleepy,  and  creeping,  as  the  seals  they  lived  on ;  and  whose 
hearts  were  as  barren  and  cold  as  their  perpetual  snows. 
She  has  entered  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern 
extreme  of  Africa,  the  Hottentots,  the  very  lowest  gradation 
of  human  nature,  whose  souls  were  supposed  to  be  as  incapa- 
ble of  enlightening  and  enlargement  as  the  instincts  of  the 
vermin  that  covered  them.  She  has  tried  her  powers  among 
the  ferocious  tribes  of  American  Indians ;  upon  warriors 
nourished  with  blood,  and  breathing  a  spirit  of  slaughter 
which  no  sufferings  nor  dangers  could  ever  tame.  She  has 
lifted  up  her  voice  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  among  sav- 
ages uniting  with  the  most  inhuman  idolatry,  the  most  beastly 
vices  and  unnatural  cruelties ;  and  from  all  this  heteroge- 
neous display  of  unshapen  depravity,  by  the  mere  influence 
of  her  truth  and  love,  she  has  led  forth  a  multitude  of  disci- 
ples for  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  whom  are  found  precisely  the 
same  distinctive  features  of  meekness,  humility,  love,  and 
holiness.  Look  at  the  Sandwich,  or  the  Society  Islands  ! 
Within  our  own  times  were  they  universally  pagan,  having 
no  altars  but  those  of  daemons;  no  law  but  that  of  violence ; 
no  morals  but  those  of  unbridled  passion.  Theft  was  the 
most  national  art.  Polygamy  ;  crimes  against  nature  ;  the 
murder  of  prisoners  taken  in  war ;  the  destruction  of  infants 
and  the  sacrificing  of  human  victims,  prevailed  throughout 
their  population.  What  is  the  change  !  Where  are  now 
their  idols  ?  In  the  museums  of  our  missionary  societies,  as 


304  LECTURE  X. 

trophies  of  the  victories  of  the  cross ;  or  cast  "  to  the  moles 
and  the  bats"  ly  those  who  once  adored  them.  The  plan 
and  mould  of  society  have  been  recast.  Laws,  wisely 
enacted  and  well  admistered,  keep  the  peace  and  promote 
improvements.  Crimes  of  all  kinds  are  obliged  to  cease  or 
go  into  concealment.  Marriage  has  given  parents  new  affec- 
tion for  their  children,  and  their  children  new  ties  among 
each  other.  Benevolence,  unknown  before,  has  awakened  a 
desire  to  go  about  doing  good.  The  Sabbath  is  reverenced 
and  widely  kept  for  rest  and  worship.  The  arts  of  peace  are 
cultivated  where  formerly  the  only  art  desired  was  that  of 
war.  The  march  of  civilization  is  visible  in  all  domestic 
comforts  and  private  affairs ;  in  agriculture,  commerce,  build- 
ings, cleanliness,  dress,  manners,  and  government.  Schools 
are  spread  through  the  islands,  and  education  is  eagerly 
sought  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  all  ages  and  classes. 
Such  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity  in  our  day.  Nothing  else 
could  have  produced  such  fruits.  Just  after  infidelity  had 
given  the  world  a  full  length  portrait,  in  the  French  revolu- 
tion, of  her  power  to  tear  down,  and  tear  in  pieces,  and  drown 
in  blood,  whatever  is  lovely  and  of  good  report ;  then  Chris- 
tianity set  out,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  world,  to  furnish 
a  striking  contrast,  in  the  missions  of  the  Pacific,  of  her 
benign  influence  to  exterminate  whatever  is  odious  and 
depraved.* 

*  It  is  well  known  to  the  author  that  travellers  and  voyagers  not  unfre- 
qaently  bring  back  reports  of  the  effects  of  missionary  labours  in  the  regions 
they  have  visited,  which  stagger  the  minds  of  many  sincere  friends  of  foreign 
missions.  The  accounts  of  what  those  honoured  and  devoted  servants  of 
Christ,  called  missionaries,  are  doing,  and  of  the-advances  which  the  gospel 
is  making  under  their  influence,  may  all  be  true;  much  more  than  they  relate 
may  be  true ;  and  yet  it  is  very  conceivable,  yea,  natural,  that  such  men  as 
our  ordinary  visiters  of  foreign  lands  should  return  from  those  regions,  having 
neither  seen  nor  heard  any  thing  of  the  matter.  Suppose  a  missionary  were 
accomplishing,  with  his  schools  and  his  preaching,  among  a  tribe  of  Indians 
in  the  centre  of  the  state  of  New  York,  about  as  much  as  is  reported  of  the 
American  labourers  in  the  island  of  Ceylon  ;  how  long  might  an  intelligent 
traveller,  with  no  interest  in  religion,  no  relish  for  its  intelligence,  no  love  for 


LECTURE   X.  305 

Not  only  has  the  religion  of  the  gospel  produced  such 
fruits,  but  the  experiment  of  eighteen  hundred  years  is  per- 
fect proof,  that  in  proportion  as  it  shall  ever  be  possessed  in 

the  society  of  its  disciples,  no  knowledge  of  its  journals — a  man  of  fashion 
and  gayety,  mingling  only  with  the  literary  and  worldly-minded;  how  long 
might  he  reside  in  the  fashionable  circles  of  the  city  of  Ne'w  York,  and  sail 
up  the  Hudson,  and  stop  at  Saratoga,  and  visit  Niagara,  and  yet  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  that  diligent  missionary  and  his  usefulness?  Men  who 
have  lived  all  their  days  in  a  city  which  abounds  in  religious  institutions  and 
Christian  labours,  without  having  become  sufficiently  informed  to  give  a  stran- 
ger a  correct  account  even  of  their  respective  characters,  much  less  of  their 
real  usefulness,  will  touch  at  a  port  in  the  Sandwich  islands,  see  the  port 
population,  go  no  further  than  the  coast,  inquire  of  none  but  the  ungodly,  and 
then  come  home  and  report  that  the  missionaries  have  done  nothing  to  civilize 
or  convert  the  people.  How  should  such  men  know  ?  On  their  principles 
of  judging,  it  might  be  reported,  with  equal  reason,  that  Christianity  has 
secured  no  influence,  and  done  no  good,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  An  anec- 
dote will  illustrate  how  such  authorities  deserve  to  be  regarded.  A  gentle- 
man, not  long  since,  returned  to  his  native  city  in  England,  after  having  spent 
some  three  or  four  years  in  India.  The  pious  people  of  his  acquaintance 
(not  considering  the  extent  of  the  Indies,  and  his  indifference  to  the  cause  of 
Christ)  supposed  that  of  course  he  had  seen  the  missionary  stations,  and 
knew  by  his  own  observation  all  about  the  reported  progress  of  religion  in 
that  country.  They  inquired  of  him  the  state  of  things  in  this  respect.  He 
assured  them  that  the  accounts  they  had  read  of  missionary  doings  and  suc- 
cesses in  the  East  had  no  foundation — were  mere  traps  to  get  contributions. 
He  had  been  in  India,  and  travelled  extensively,  and  had  seen  nothing  of  any 
inroads  upon  heathenism,  nor  any  changes  among  the  people ;  had  scarcely 
heard  of  tne  existence  of  missionary  stations.  The  people  were  amazed ! 
Much  harm  was  doing ;  when  a  clergyman  of  the  place,  hearing  of  the  mat- 
ter, took  an  opportunity  to  converse  with  the  traveller.  Before  disclosing  his 
object,  he  said  to  him :  "  You  are  probably  familiar  with  the  national 
school  system  of  instruction  in  this  country.  What  do  you  think  of  it  7" 
"  Why  no,"  answered  the  traveller,  "  I  really  am  not  acquainted  with  it." 
"  But  you  doubtless  know  that  there  is  such  a  system,  and  have  probably  seen 
its  establishments,  and  heard  much  of  its  usefulness." — "  Why  no,  I  have 
never  happened  to  do  so,  though  I  have  a  indistinct  idea  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  system." — "  Well,"  said  the  clergyman,  "I  will  tell  you.  The  national 
school  system  has  been  established  for  several  years  in  England.  Its  schools 
are  all  over  the  country ;  its  pupils  are  many  hundreds  of  thousands ;  its 
influence  is  universally  felt.  It  maintains  more  than  one  school  in  your  imme- 
diate neighbourhood.  Almost  all  your  life  has  been  spent  in  England,  a 
small  country,  and  yet  you  know  nothing  of  these  interesting  facts.  You 
have  been  a  short  time  in  the  immense  region  of  India,  over  which  a  few 


306  LECTURE   X. 

native  soundness,  and  have  room  and  freedom  to  spread  its 
roots  and  extend  its  branches,  it  will  continue  to  bear  such 
fruit,  more  and  more  abundantly  and  perfectly,  to  the  end  of 
time.  This  tree  of  life  was  planted  to  live  through  all  ages, 
and  spread  its  shadow  over  all  nations.  The  trials  it  stood 
in  its  infancy ;  the  fierce  assaults  of  every  species  of  enmity, 
which  in  every  age  of  its  subsequent  growth  have  endea- 
voured in  vain  to  destroy  it,  are  evidences  that,  as  no  human 
power  could  have  thus  protected  it,  so  no  human  opposition 
can  hereafter  prevent  its  increase ;  that  it  must  grow,  and 
spread,  and  blossom,  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 

I  am  well  aware,  and  I  desire  not  to  conceal,  that  it  is  very 
common  with  infidels  to  ascribe  wars,  intrigues,  bloodshed, 
and  persecutions,  to  the  influence  of  Christianity,  and  to 
assert  that  the  world  has  been  covered  with  slaughter  by  the 
hand  of  the  gospel.  The  truth  is,  that  whenever  any  evils, 
such  as  wars  or  persecutions,  arise,  though  infidels  by  pro- 
fession, or  mere  nominal  Christians,  are  at  the  bottom  of 
them ;  though  originated  and  carried  on  out  of  direct  enmity 
to  the  gospel ;  yet,  because  the  Christian  name  is  involved  in 
the  contest,  infidels  set  down  the  whole  to  the  account  of 
a  religion,  which,  nevertheless,  their  chief  men  confess,  has 
a  direct  tendency  to  make  every  body  do  his  duty*  and  "  to 
promote  the  peace  and  happiness  of  mankind.^  But  on 
the  other  hand,  whenever  any  good  is  done  in  society,  such 
as  the  banishment  of  the  crimes  and  vices  of  heathenism ; 
the  promotion  of  virtue,  peace,  good  laws,  good  institutions, 
benevolence,  domestic  and  public  happiness;  then  infidels 
nave  great  difficulty  in  seeing  how  these  blessings  are  con- 
nected with  Christianity,  even  though,  by  their  own  acknow- 

missionary  stations  are  scattered,  as  drops  upon  a  desert ;  and  because,  in 
visiting  a  few  prominent  places,  you  heard  or  saw  nothing  of  their  influence 
upon  the  millions  of  heathen,  you  would  persuade  us  that  what  we  have  read 
is  all  untrue.  How  much  more  should  we  believe  that  the  national  school 
system  is  a  fable !"  The  traveller  was  silenced ;  the  people  were  satisfied. 
*  Rousseau.  t  Bolingbroke. 


LECTURE  X.  307 

ledgment,  the  life  of  Jesus  "  showed  at  once  what  excellent 
creatures  men  would  be,  when  under  the  influence  and  powei 
of  thai  gospel  which  he  preached."* 

.  It  is  freely  granted  that  in  countries  called  Christian,  great 
evils  remain  to  be  cured ;  their  history  abounds  with  wars, 
some  of  which  have  been  on  account  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  have  been  accompanied  with  great  slaughter  and  lasting 
enmities.  But  before  these  deplorable  facts  can  justly  be  at- . 
tributed  to  the  influence  of  the  peaceful  and  gentle  religion 
of  Jesus,  a  number  of  important  questions,  which  we  shall 
presently  name,  must  be  decided.  By  the  confession  of  one 
of  the  most  noted  infidels  :  "  We  have  in  Christ  an  example 
of  one  who  was  just,  honest,  upright,  and  sincere,  and  above 
all,  of  a  most  gracious  and  benevolent  temper  and  behaviour. 
One  who  did  no  wrong,  no  injury  to  any  man ;  in  whose 
mouth  was  no  guile ;  who  went  about  doing  good,  not  only 
by  his  ministry,  but  also  in  curing  all  manner  of  diseases 
among  the  people.  His  life  showed  what  excellent  creatures 
men  would  be  when  under  the  influence  and  power  of  that 
gospel  which  he  preached  unto  them."t  But  hear  on  this 
head  the  eloquence  of  the  profligate  Rousseau,  venturing  for 
once  to  speak  the  truth :  "  I  will  confess  that  the  majesty  of 
the  scriptures  strikes  me  with  admiration,  as  the  purity  of 
the  gospel  has  its  influence  on  my  heart.  Peruse  the  works 
of  our  philosophers  with  all  their  pomp  of  diction  ;  how  con- 
temptible are  they  compared  with  the  scriptures  !  Is  it  possi- 
ble that  a  book  at  once  so  simple  and  sublime  should  be  mert4y 
the  work  of  man  ?  Is  it  possible  that  the  sacred  personage 
whose  name  it  records,  should  be  himself  a  mere  man  ?  What 
sweetness,  what  purity  in  his  manner  !  What  sublimity  in 
his  maxims !  What  profound  wisdom  in  his  discourses ! 
Where  is  the  man,  where  the  philosopher,  who  could  so  live 
and  so  die  without  weakness  and  without  ostentation  ?  If 
the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were  those  of  a  sage,  the  life 

*  Chubb's   True  Gospel,  §  viii.  55,  6. 
t  Chubb's  True  Gospel,  §  viii.  56,  57. 


308  LECTURE   X. 

and  death  of  Jesus  were  those  of  a  God.'5  Such  are  the  con- 
fessions of  a  man  whose  vice  and  vanity  constrained  him  to 
say :  "  /  cannot  believe  the  gospel."  No  wonder,  when  at 
the  same  time  he  was  saying  in  his  heart,  I  will  not  renounce 
my  debaucheries. 

But  such  confessions  abound  in  the  writings  of  infidels,  so 
that  "  the  whole  Christian  argument  might  be  maintained  on 
the  admissions  of  one  or  other  of  the  leading  infidel  writers , 
and  no  contest  remain,  unless,  if  it  could  then  be  called  one, 
with  the  miserable,  ignorant  ferocity  of  Paine  and  his  asso- 
ciates."* 

On  the  ground  of  such  acknowledgments,  and  of  the  ac- 
quaintance which  any  who  ever  read  the  New  Testament 
must  have  with  its  principles  and  tendency,  let  the  following 
questions  be  answered :  Is  there  any  tendency  in  the  princi- 
ples of  the  gospel  to  the  enkindling  of  strife,  hatred,  war,  or 
bloodshed  ?  Was  the  character  of  its  founder ;  were  the 
characters  of  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  among 
whom  the  native  influence  of  Christianity  was  most  unequivo- 
cally exhibited,  in  any  manner  indicative  of  such  a  tendency 
in  its  principles  ?  Is  not  the  whole  history  of  the  purest  ages 
of  the  gospel,  as  well  as  every  page  in  the  New  Testament, 
directly  in  proof  of  the  very  opposite  effect?  Did  not  all  the 
evils  of  war  and  national  dissension  prevail  much  more 
universally  before  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  than  they 
have  done  since  ?  Is  not  the  influence  of  this  religion  plainly 
visible  in  mitigating  those  horrors  of  war  which  she  has  not 
exterminated?  And  as  to  those  which  have  continued  to 
subsist,  are  they  in  direct  consequence,  or  in  spite  of  her  in- 
fluence ;  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  or  the  poisonous  weeds  at  its 
root,  which  oppose  its  growth  ?  Are  the  men  who  have  been 
concerned  in  promoting  these  evils,  and  who  are  called  Chris- 
tians, believed  to  have  been  real  Christians  ?  Do  not  infidels 
discriminate  sufficiently  between  genuine  and  nominal  reli- 
gion, to  understand  that,  in  thus  acting,  they  were  departing 

*  Wilson's  Lectures. 


LECTURE    X.  309 

from  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  proving  that  they  were 
Christians  but  in  name  ?  "  Have  not  the  courts  of  princes, 
notwithstanding  Christianity  may  have  been  the  ^professed 
religion  of  the  land,  been  generally  attended  by  a  far  greater 
proportion  of  deists,  than  of  serious  Christians ;  and  have  not 
public  measures'  been  directed  by  the  counsels  of  the  former, 
much  more  than  by  those  of  the  latter?  It  is  well  known 
that  great  numbers  among  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  every 
nation  consider  religion  as  suited  only  to  vulgar  minds;  and 
therefore  either  wholly  absent  themselves  from  public  wor- 
ship, or  attend  but  seldom,  and  then  only  to  save  appearances 
towards  a  national  establishment.  In  other  words,  they  are 
unbelievers.  This  is  the  description  of  men  by  which  pub- 
lic affairs  are  commonly  managed,  and  to  which  the  good  or 
the  evil  pertaining  to  them,  so  far  as  human  agency  is  con- 
cerned, is  to  be  attributed."* 

It  is  a  favourite  manoeuvre  with  infidels  to  charge  Chris- 
tianity with  all  the  persecutions  on  account  of  religion,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  to  speak  in  high  terms  of  "  the  mild  tole- 
rance of  the  ancient  heathens ;"  of  "  the  universal  toleration 
of  polytheism  ;"  of  "the  Roman  princes  beholding  without  con- 
cern a  thousand  forms  of  religion  subsisting  in  peace  under  their 
gentle  sway."t  Better  information  on  this  subject  is  greatly 
needed  in  the  community.  Heathen  toleration  was  any  thing 
but  virtuous,  and  much  less  universal  than  its  modern  eulo- 
gists would  represent.  It  allowed  all  nations  to  establish 
whatever  description  of  religion  they  pleased,  provided  each 
would  acknowledge  that  all,  in  their  several  spheres,  were 
equally  good.  But  pagan  nations  required  of  every  citizen 
conformity  to  the  national  idolatries.  This  yielded,  he  migh 
believe  and  be,  whatever  he  pleased.  This  denied,  immedi 
ately  toleration  ceased.  Take  a  few  examples.  Stilpo  was 
banished  Athens,  for  affirming  that  the  statue  of  Minerva,  in 
the  citadel,  was  no  divinity,  but  only  the  work  of  the  chisel 
of  Phidias.  Protagoras  received  a  similar  punishment  for 

*  Fuller's  Gospel  its  own  Witness.  t  Gibbon. 

26 


310 


LECTURE   X. 


this  single  sentence :  "  Whether  there  be  gods  or  not,  I  have 
nothing  to  offer."  Prodicus  and  his  pupil,  Socrates,  suffered 
death  for  opinions  at  variance  with  the  established  idolatry 
of  Athens.  Alcibiades  and  JEschylus  narrowly  escaped  a 
like  end  for  a  similar  cause.  Plato  dissembled  his  opinions ; 
and  Aristotle  fled  his  country,  under  the  lash  of  the  mild  and 
universal  toleration  of  the  Grecian  mythology.  Cicero  lays 
it  down  as  a  principle  of  legislation  entirely  conformable  to 
the  rights  of  the  Roman  state,  that  "  no  man  shall  have  sepa- 
rate gods  for  himself;  and  no  man  shall  worship  by  himself 
new  or  foreign  gods,  unless  they  have  been  publicly  acknow- 
ledged by  the  laws  of  the  state."*  The  speech,  in  Dion 
Cassius,  which  Maecenas  is  said  to  have  made  to  Augustus, 
may  be  considered  a  fair  index  of  the  prevailing  sentiment 
of  that  polished  age.  "Honour  the  gods,"  says  Maecenas, 
"  by  all  means,  according  to  the  customs  of  your  country, 
and  force  others  so  to  honour  them.  But  those  who  are 
for  ever  introducing  something  foreign  in  these  matters,  hate 
and  punish,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  gods,  but  also  because 
they  who  introduce  new  divinities  mislead  many  others  into 
receiving  foreign  laws  also.  Suffer  no  man  either  to  deny 
the  £ods,  or  to  practise  sorcery."  Julius  Paulus,  the  Roman 
civilian,  gives  the  following  as  a  leading  feature  of  Roman 
law :  "  Those  who  introduced  new  religions,  or  such  as  were 
unknown  in  their  tendency  and  nature,  by  which  the  minds 
of  men  might  be  agitated,  were  degraded  if  they  belonged  to 
the  higher  ranks,  and  if  they  were  in  a  lower  state,  were 
punished  with  death."  Under  this  legislation,  many  of  the 
governors  endeavoured  to  compromise  with  Christians,  by 
allowing  them  to  believe  and  honour  what  they  pleased  in 
their  hearts,  provided  they  would  observe  outwardly  the  reli- 
gious ceremonies  ordained  by  the  state.t 

Examples  to  the  same  effect,  might  be  greatly  multiplied. 
I  have  furnished  enough  to  show  in  what  sense  the  heathen 
princes  "  beheld,  icithmit  concern,  a  thousand  forms  of  reli- 

*  De  Legibus,  ii.  8.  t  See  Neander's  Church  History. 


LECTURE   X.  311 

gion  subsisting  in  peace  under  their  gentle  sway ;"  and  how 
far  Voltaire  was  accurately  informed  or  honestly  disposed, 
when  boasting  that  the  ancient  Romans  "  never  persecuted  a 
single  philosopher  for  his  opinions  from  the  time  of  Romu- 
lus till  the  popes  got  possession  of  their  power." 

It  is  willingly  conceded  that  persecutions  on  account  of 
religion  were  enormously  increased  immediately  after  the 
promulgation  of  Christianity ;  inasmuch  as  nothing  had  ever 
before  attacked  the  superstitions  and  vices  of  the  heathen 
with  her  undaunted,  uncompromising  spirit.  But  did  Chris- 
tianity persecute ;  or  was  she  the  object  of  persecution  ? 
Was  Jesus  the  persecutor  of  Pilate  1  Did  Paul  persecute  tho 
worshippers  of  the  Ephesian  Diana,  or  the  heathen  of  Ico- 
nium,  or  those  who  stoned  him  at  Lystra  ?  By  whose  intole- 
rance was  it,  that,  for  three  hundred  years,  the  Christian 
church  was  continually  overflowed  with  the  blood  of  her 
martyrs?  Did  the  multitudes  who  perished  for  Christ's 
sake,  under  the  paw  of  the  lion,  and  the  sword  of  the  gladia- 
tor, and  the  screws  of  the  rack — did  they  persecute  the  hea- 
then priests,  and  people,  and  magistrates — Nero,  and  Trajan, 
and  Diocletian — with  their  proconsuls,  and  governors,  and 
executioners?  1  grant  that  in  the  lapse  of  centuries  the 
guilt  of  persecution  did  attach  to  the  church.  Christian 
powers,  and  ministers,  and  people  have,  in  various  ages,  been 
justly  liable  to  this  lamentable  charge.  But  who  does  not 
know  that  the  church,  before  ever  she  began  to  persecute, 
had  manifestly  degenerated  from  the  purity  of  the  gospel, 
md  become  deeply  poisoned  with  the  spirit  of  the  world,  hav- 
ing her  chief  places  occupied  by  such  men  as  infidels  know 
were  not  influenced  by  vital  Christianity  ?*  Who  is  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  that  wherever  such  evils  have  existed  among 

*  The  emperoi1  Julian  acknowledged  that  persecutions  were  the  inventions 
of  the  later  Christians;  that  neither  Jesus,  nor  Paul,  nor  any  other  of  the 
first  preachers  of  the  gospel,  had  taught  men  to  kill  others  for  being  of  a 
different  religion,  or  for  differing  about  lesser  matters  among  tbemselves.- 
Lardner,  iv.  337. 


312  LECTURE  X. 

any  people  called  Christians,  they  have  been  because  those 
people  had  so  little  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  not  because 
they  had  any  of  it  ?  They  have  been  directly  the  reverse 
of  the  religion  professed  by  such  persons ;  the  fruits  of  theii 
own  native  disposition,  combined  with  the  character  of  the 
ages  they  lived  in,  assimilating  them  thus  far  to  infidels, 
who  have  always  been  persecutors  in  proportion  to  their 
power.  True  Christianity  desires  but  one  favour :  liberty  to 
preach  "Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified"  Her  whole 
dependence  is  on  "  the  "demonstration  of  the  Spirit."  "  God 
giveth  the  increase" 

We  have  now  applied  to  Christianity  the  test  by  which  she 
claims  to  be  proved ;  one  universally  employed  as  safe,  and 
approved  as  just ;  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  The 
religion  of  the  gospel  we  have  seen  coming  into  the  world  at 
a  period  when  every  moral  evil  abounded.  The  grossest 
idolatry,  attended  with  the  most  inhuman  and  indecent  rites, 
prevailed  among  the  most  enlightened  nations.  Spectacles 
of  slaughter  and  suffering  constituted  the  public  amusements. 
Parents  without  natural  affection,  children  in  slavery  to  their 
parents,  and  at  the  mercy  of  their  displeasure,  the  female  sex 
degraded  to  a  rank  of  servile  inferiority,  murders  and  cruel- 
ties characterized  the  age.  Vices  of  the  most  beastly  kind 
were  practised  and  avowed  in  the  highest  and  most  influ- 
ential classes  of  society.  What  would  now  shame  out  of  the 
world  the  most  degraded  of  mankind,  could  then  be  ac- 
knowledged, even  by  a  public  teacher  of  morals,  without 
reproach.  Public  opinion,  the  thermometer  of  public  virtue, 
had  no  condemnation  for  habits  not  only  against  all  the 
securities  of  domestic  happiness  and  social  welfare,  but 
against  every  dictate  of  nature,  and  requiring  for  their  per- 
mission the  lowest  debasement  of  the  moral  sense  of  the 
community.  Among  all  the  gentile  nations,  none  possessed 
the  benevolence  to  attempt,  nothing  had  power  to  effect,  the 
reformation  of  a  world  thus  sunk  in  wretchedness,  and  para- 
lyzed with  vice.  It  was  the  era,  indeed,  of  the  world's  wis- 


LECTURE  X.  313 

dom ;  but  of  a  wisdom  by  which  the  world  knew  not  God. 
For  centuries,  had  the  wise  men  after  the  flesh  been  teaching, 
and  writing,  and  boasting ;  and  as  long  had  every  wo  been 
increasing,  and  every  school  becoming  more  perplexed  in  its 
doctrines,  and  more  abandoned  in  the  practice  of  its  disciples. 
No  change,  for  the  better,  was  hoped  for  from  any  human 
source.  Then  appeared  "the  wisdom  of  God."  Chris- 
tianity, uninvited,  un welcomed,  rejected ;  Christianity,  perse- 
cuted as  intrusive,  despised  as  foolishness,  ridiculed  as  weak- 
ness, commenced  at  this  crisis  the  bold  work  of  regenerating 
the  world.  Wherever  ;she  gained  acceptation  the  face  of 
society  was  renewed.  Order,  purity,  benevolence,  justice, 
mercy,  every  personal,  domestic,  and  public  virtue  increased 
as  her  influence  extended.  Under  her  charge,  immense  com- 
munities of  men  and  women  were  formed,  who  soon  became 
famous  in  the  world  for  their  earnest  self-denying  benevo- 
lence, and  their  devotion  to  holiness.  No  sooner  was  chris 
tianity  professed  by  the  rulers  of  the  Roman  empire,  than 
idolatry,  with  every  unnatural  crime  and  cruel  amusement, 
was  abolished  from  society,  or  compelled  to  deny  its  exist- 
ence. In  proportion  as  this  religion  has  reigned  in  any  age 
or  country,  there  has  been  a  manifest  increase  of  all  the  bless- 
ings of  civilization,  all  the  arts  of  peace,  all  the  virtues  of  in- 
dividual character,  all  the  securities  of  a  wise  and  equitable 
government.  Nothing  has  retarded  the  growth  of  these 
benefits  but  what  has  alike  retarded  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity. No  Christian  people  have  suffered  on  account  of 
any  evil,  which  Christianity  has  not  directly  opposed.  Pre- 
sent efforts  to  spread  this  holy  religion  among  the  heathen 
demonstrate  that  her  natural  force  is  not  abated,  nor  her 
influence  changed.  What  she  did  among  the  pagans  of  the 
first,  she  is  accomplishing,  though  as  yet  by  slower  steps, 
among  those  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Such  has  been 
from  the  beginning ;  such  is  now  ;  and  such,  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe,  ever  will  be  the  fruit  of  Christianity.  By 
this  she  is  known.  By  this  let  her  claims  to  truth  and  divine 

26* 


314  LECTURE   X. 

original  be  judged.  Every  honest  mind  is  capable  of  appre- 
ciating the  evidence,  and  of  applying  the  law.  It  is  a  case 
by  itself.  No  party  appears  to  claim  the  credit  of  what  Chris- 
tianity ascribes  to  herself.  Philosophy  and  the  light  of  na- 
ture are  joined  to  their  idols  and  vices,  and  cannot  come  to 
the  trial,  and  must  therefore  be  excused.  Infidelity  was 
tried  during  the  "  Reign  of  Terror"  in  France,  and  received 
its  sentence  at  the  guillotine,  and  therefore  cannot  come. 
Either  the  blessings  we  have  described  must  be  adjudged, 
according  to  the  plea,  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  or  pronounced 
to  be  effects  without  a  cause.  Do  they  belong  to  the  gos- 
pel, or  to  nothing  ?  We  speak  the  language  of  every  con- 
science and  of  all  common  sense  when  we  say,  the  gos- 
pel alone  produced  them,  and  the  gospel  alone  could  produce 
them  ;  and  should  the  gospel  be  thoroughly  conformed  to  in 
all  the  world,  the  whole  world  would  be  morally  renovated, 
and  all  those  physical  evils  which  proceed  from  the  vices  of 
mankind  would  pass  away. 

What,  then,  is  Christianity  ?  "  Do  men  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ?"  "  Can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth 
good  fruit  ?"  This  religion  is  either  a  truth  or  a  fable ;  the 
revelation  of  God,  or  the  wicked  and  blasphemous  contrivance 
of  man.  If  it  be  the  work  of  human  contrivance,  it  must  be 
unspeakably  offensive  to  God,  inasmuch  as  it  ascribes  all  its 
doctrines  directly  to  His  teaching ;  exalts  its  Founder  to  the 
dignity  of  the  divine  nature,  calling  him  the  Son  of  God, 
and  making  him  equal  to  the  Father  in  power  and  glory. 
Between  its  entire  truth  as  a  divine  revelation,  and  its  un- 
paralleled audacity  and  impiety  as  a  human  imposture,  there 
can  be  no  middle  ground.  The  unbeliever,  in  rejecting  the 
former,  must  resort,  if  consistent,  to  the  latter.  Then  let  us 
see  how  much  he  is  bound  to  believe  in  maintaining  his 
position.  He  must  believe  that  since  the  truth,  according  tc 
his  views,  does  not  reside  in  Christianity,  it  does  reside  in 
some  or  q.11  of  the  systems  of  religion,  or  of  philosophy,  or  of 


LECTURE    X.  315 

infidelity,  to  which  Christianity  is  opposed.     His  creed,  there- 
fore, is  substantially  the  following:  'I  believe  that  in  pro- 
portion as  the  world  has  ever  been  committed  to  the  influence 
of  those  antichristian  systems  among  which  the  truth  is  to 
be  found ;  it  has  been  continually  increasing  in  all  moral  de- 
generacy, having  in  it  no  spirit  nor  power  of  reformation. 
I  believe,  also,  that  in  proportion  as  Christianity,  which  should 
be  regarded  only  as  a  human  contrivance  of  the  grossest 
blasphemy  and  impiety,  has  reigned  in  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  men  ;  the  world  has  been  morally  renovated,  society  hu- 
manized, benevolence  invigorated,  personal  and  public  happi- 
ness extended  and  purified.     Consequently,  I  believe  that  a 
God  infinitely  wise,  holy,  and  true,  has  so  constituted  man- 
kind, that  for  the  improvement  and  well-being  of  society,  we 
are  under  the  necessity  of  believing  and  promoting  what  is 
not  only  false,  but  heinously  offensive  to  Himself;  truth  must 
be  concealed  because  we  learn  by  experience  that  its  currency 
can  only  be  accompanied  with  the  greatest  evils  to  the  morals, 
the  peace,  the  whole  interest  of  mankind  ;  teachers  of  error 
and  darkness  must  be  depended  upon  as  instruments  of  hu- 
man elevation,  while  teachers  of  the  truth  should  be  discounte- 
nanced as  capable  of  nothing  but  the  unhinging  of  the  whole 
frame-work  of  private  and  public  welfare.'    These,  I  say,  are 
the  articles  of  belief  which,  whether  avowed  or  not,  do  lie 
wrapped  up  in  the  rejection  of  Christianity.     The  proof  of 
this  assertion  is  in  the  lecture  we  are  now  closing.     I  need 
not  say  that  it  sets,  in  strong  and  shining  relief,  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  revelation  from  Him 
who  is  the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift.     "  For  the 
preaching  of  the  cross  is  to  them  that  perish  foolishness :  but 
unto  us  which  are  saved  it  is  the  power  of  God.    Where  is 
the  wise  ?     Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world  ?    Hath  not 
God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?     For  after  that 
in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God, 
it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them 


316  LECTURE  X. 

that  believe ;  for  the  Jews  require  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks  seek 
after  wisdom  :  But  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews 
a  stumbling-block,  and  unto  the  Greeks  foolishness :  But  unto 
them  which  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ,  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God."* 

*  1  Corinthians,  i.  18—24. 


LECTURE  XI.  317 


LECTURE    XI. 

THE     FRUITS     OP     CHRISTIANITY. 

THE  rule  by  which  Christianity  was  tried  in  our  last  lec- 
ture, is  as  philosophical  as  it  is  scriptural.  It  is  the  rule  of 
experiment,  in  distinction  from  all  the  whims  of  conjecture 
and  ingenious  theory,  and  has  an  application,  as  legitimate 
and  conclusive,  to  the  character  of  Christianity,  as  to  that  of 
any  tree,  or  food,  or  medicine.  None  can  deny  that  the 
experiment  of  the  religion  of  Christ  has  been  varied  suffi- 
ciently to  put  it  to  the  fairest  trial,  and  continued  long  enough 
to  develope  its  most  hidden  qualities.  Exposed  to  all  ex- 
tremes of  physical  and  moral  temperature ;  tried  upon  all  de- 
scriptions of  human  beings ;  required  to  preserve  its  purity 
amidst  all  contagions  ;  to  display  its  energies  under  all  con 
ceivable  burdens  and  bonds ;  to  bear  its  fruit  under  the  most 
blasting  influences  ;  and  to  stand  against  all  possible  combi- 
nations of  enmity ;  sometimes  subjected  to  the  action  of  the 
fire,  then  of  the  rack,  and  then  of  the  knife,  of  unrelenting 
persecutors  ;  eighteen  hundred  years  have  measured  out  its 
trial,  during  which,  whatever  could  be  effected  by  science 
united  with  industry,  malice  united  with  power,  or  vigilance 
united  with  hypocrisy,  has  been  done  unceasingly  to  torture 
it  into  a  confession  or  a  display  of  something  at  variance 
with  divine  original.  The  trial,  therefore,  is  sufficient.  The 
tree  has  had  time  and  ample  opportunity  to  be  known  by 
its  fruits.  If  it  may  not  be  finally  tried  by  this  rule,  in  the 
nineteenth  century  of  its  budding  and  bearing,  the  fault 
must  be  sought  in  the  rale  itself,  not  in  the  subject  of  inquiry. 

In  our  last  lecture  we  confined  our  attention  to  the  fruits 
of  Christianity  in  regard  to  society  in  general.  In  the 
present  we  are  to  consider. 


318 


LECTURE   XI. 


ITS  FRUITS  IN  REGARD  TO  THE  CHARACTER  AND  HAPPI- 
NESS OP  ITS  GENUINE  DISCIPLES. 

It  is  not  without  reflection  that  I  introduce  this  subject 
into  the  department  of  external  evidence.  I  am  aware  that 
it  is  generally  considered  as  belonging  exclusively  to  the  class 
of  arguments  denominated  internal ;  but  I  see  not  with  what 
propriety.  So  far  as  any  effects  of  Christianity  on  individual 
disciples  are  incapable  of  being  brought  under  the  observa- 
tion of  others,  being  confined  to  the  inward  experience  of 
the  true  believer,  they  are  unquestionably  internal  in  their 
character,  and  do  not  belong  to  our  present  department.  But 
if  they  be  such  effects  as  witnesses  can  take  knowledge  of; 
if  the  proof  of  them  may  be  seen  and  appreciated  by  those 
that  are  without,  and  who  can  look  only  on  the  outward 
appearance ;  I  see  not  but  they  belong,  as  appropriately,  to 
the  external  evidence,  as  any  of  the  effects  of  Christianity 
upon  society  at  large.  "Without  further  vindication  of  a 
matter  of  mere  classification,  I  proceed. 

I.  The  moral  transformations  which  the  gospel,  in  all 
ages,  has  notoriously  wrought,  and  by  unquestionable  proofs, 
exhibited  to  the  world,  in  the  characters  of  those  who  have 
become  its  genuine  disciples,  cannot  be  accounted  for, 
but  on  the  supposition  of  a  divine  power  accompanying 
its  operation. 

To  illustrate  my  meaning,  let  me  describe  what  has  been 
witnessed  under  the  ministry  of  Christianity  so  repeatedly, 
that  hardly  any  who  have  been  in  the  way  of  such  things 
can  have  failed  to  become  acquainted  with  apposite  examples. 
Persons  of  all  grades  of  society  and  of  intellect,  and  of  all 
degrees  of  enmity  to  the  religion  of  Jesus ;  in  circumstances 
the  most  unpropitious  to  its  influence  on  their  hearts ;  even 
while  they  were  filled  with  the  spirit  of  malice  and  persecu- 
tion against  its  truth  and  disciples ;  have  had  their  minds 
suddenly  arrested  by  some  simple  expression  of  the  Bible,  or 
some  unpretending  statement  of  Christian  doctrine  or  expe- 
rience ;  perhaps  it  dropped  from  the  lips  of  a  minister  against 


LECTURE  XI.  319 

whom,  at  that  very  time,  they  were  nerved  with  anger ;  or 
was  read  in  a  Bible,  or  a  little  despised  tract,  that  seemed 
accidentally  to  lie  in  their  way,  and  at  which,  as  if  by  acci- 
dent they  condescended  to  look.  It  told  them  nothing  new ; 
nothing  but  what  they  had  often  heard  or  read  before  without 
the  smallest  effect.  And  yet,  without  any  argument  to  shake 
their  ungodly  principles,  or  special  application,  by  any  hu- 
man being,  of  the  word,  thus  heard  or  read,  to  their  particu- 
lar condition ;  they  felt  their  minds  seized  upon  by  an 
influence  from  which  no  effort  of  infidel  argument,  nor  strug- 
gle of  pride,  nor  drowning  of  thought,  nor  exertion  of  cour- 
age, nor  devices  of  company  and  amusement,  could  enable 
them  to  escape.  A  hand  seemed  to  be  upon  them  which  all 
their  efforts  to  shake  it  off  only  fastened  with  more  painful 
power.  They  could  get  no  peace  of  mind  till  they  submitted 
to  its  arrest.  They  were  induced  to  listen  to  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  even  while  deeply  conscious  of  a  cordial  opposition 
to  its  requirements.  A  conviction  of  sin  and  condemnation, 
such  as  they  had  ever  derided,  soon  brought  them  to  a  pos- 
ture of  body  and  a  spirit  of  supplication  before  God,  in 
which,  a  short  time  before,  they  would  not  have  been  seen 
for  the  world.  Soon  they  submitted  to  the  claims  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  became  believers  in  Jesus ;  confessed  him  before  men, 
and  appeared,  to  all  that  had  known  them  before, — in  what 
aspect  ?  As  new  creatures  !  Only  a  few  days  have  elapsed 
since  they  were  notorious  scoffers,  bold  blasphemers,  angry 
persecutors ;  of  profligate  habits,  impure  conversation,  and 
hardened  hearts,  armed  at  all  points  against  religion ;  im- 
moveable,  in  their  own  estimation,  by  any  thing  Christians 
could  say,  and  regarded  by  almost  all  that  knew  them  as 
utterly  beyond  conversion. 

Now  behold  the  change !  It  is  a  change  not  merely  of 
belief,  but  of  heart.  Their  whole  moral  nature  has  been 
recast ;  affections,  desires,  pleasures,  tempers,  conduct,  have 
all  become  new.  What  each  hated,  a  few  days  since,  he  now 
affectionately  loves.  What  then  he  was  devotedly  fond  of. 


320  LECTURE   XI. 

he  now  sincerely  detests.  Prayer  is  his  delight.  Holiness 
he  thirsts  for.  His  old  companions  he  pities  and  loves  for 
their  souls'  sake ;  but  their  tastes,  conversation,  and  habits, 
are  loathsome  to  his  heart.  Feelings,  recently  obdurate,  have 
become  tender.  A  temper,  long  habituated  to  anger,  and  vio- 
lence, and  resentment,  is  now  gentle,  peaceful,  and  forgiving. 
Christians  whose  company  and  intercourse  he  lately  could 
not  abide,  are  now  his  dear  and  chosen  companions,  with 
whom  he  loves  to  think  of  dwelling  for  ever.  The  proud  un- 
believer is  an  humble  disciple.  The  selfish  profligate  has 
become  self-denied  and  exemplary,  animated  with  a  benevo- 
lent desire  to  do  good.  All  these  changes  are  so  conspicuous 
to  others ;  he  has  become,  and  continues  to  be,  so  manifestly 
a  new  man,  in  life  and  heart,  that  the  ungodly  are  struck 
with  the  suddenness  and  extent  of  the  transformation. 

This  is  a  drawing  from  life.  That  such  cases  have  fre- 
quently occurred,  and  have  been  followed  by  all  the  perma- 
nent blessings  of  a  holy  life,  in  thousands  of  places,  and 
before  witnesses  of  all  descriptions,  it  were  a  mockery  of 
human  testimony  and  of  the  faith  of  history  to  question. 
There  is  scarcely  a  faithful  preacher  of  the  gospel,  whose 
ministry  has  not  been  blessed  with  such  fruits.  There  is 
scarcely  a  village  in  this  country,  whose  inhabitants  cannot 
tell  of  many  such  examples.  They  began  when  Christianity 
began.  They  have  been  repeated  as  pure  Christianity  has 
been  promoted  and  extended.  Such  a  case  was  that  of  Saul 
of  Tarsus.  One  moment  he  was  a  furious  enemy  of  Jesus ; 
learned,  talented,  proud ;  of  high  reputation ;  of  brilliant 
prospects ;  the  champion  of  Judea  against  the  gospel  of 
Christ ;  bearing  the  commission,  and  full  of  the  spirit  of  a 
persecutor.  The  next,  he  was  on  his  face  on  the  ground, 
calling  upon  Jesus  in  the  spirit  of  entire  submission  and 
deep  repentance.  In  a  few  days,  he  was  preaching  Christ  in 
the  synagogues,  at  the  risk  of  life,  having  made  a  total  sacri- 
fice of  all  earthly  prospects  and  possessions,  and  given  him- 
self up  to  reproach,  poverty  and  universal  hatred,  for  the 


LECTURE  XI.  321 

sake  of  the  gospel.  All  his  dispositions,  affections,  and  ha- 
bits, had  in  that  short  space  undergone  so  complete  a  change, 
without  any  human  agency,  that  he  had  become,  and  con- 
tinued to  be,  directly  the  opposite  of  his  former  character. 
Many  similar  examples  must  have  been  included  in  those 
three  thousand  converts  of  the  day  of  Pentecost,  who 
although  when  the  morning  rose  upon  them  they  were  filled 
with  all  the  enmity  of  Jews  and  of  crucifiers  of  Jesus,  before 
the  day  was  over,  were  bowed  at  the  feet  of  the  same  Jesus, 
as  his  baptized  disciples.  So  changed  were  they  in  every 
worldly  disposition,  that  they  "sold  their  possessions  and 
goods,  and  parted  them  to  all  men  as  every  man  had  need  ;" 
and  all  this  under  no  human  influence,  but  that  of  the  preach- 
ing of  men  whom  they  began  to  hear  with  contempt,  and  of 
a  doctrine  to  which  they  began  to  listen  with  the  most  ran- 
corous aversion.  How  many  thousand  cases  of  the  same 
kind  would  the  domestic  history  of  the  first  century  of  the 
gospel  furnish !  What  volumes  might  be  filled  with  similar 
examples,  which  the  annals  of  Christianity  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  especially  in  this  country,  would  exhibit !  Who 
has  attended  to  the  blessed  effects  with  which  the  distribution 
of  tracts  and  bibles  has  been  accompanied,  and  cannot  call 
to  mind  instances  in  which  the  wonderful  changes  that  were 
wrought  in  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  in  Col.  Gardiner,  and  iv 
the  once  degraded,  and  afterwards  excellent  John  Newton 
have  in  all  important  respects  been  equalled  ?  Since  I  com- 
menced the  preparation  of  this  lecture,  a  case  in  point  has 
come  to  my  view.  Called  from  my  study,  to  see  a  man  who 
had  come  on  business,  I  found  in  the  parlour  a  well-dressed 
person,  of  respectable  appearance,  good  manners,  and  sensi- 
ble conversation — a  stranger.  After  a  little  while,  he  looked 
at  me  earnestly,  and  said :  "  I  think,  sir,  I  have  seen  your 
face  before." — "  Probably,"  said  I,  supposing  he  had  seen  me 
in  the  pulpit.  "Did. you  not  once  preach,  in  the  receiving 
ship,  at  the  navy-yard,  on  the  prodigal  son,  sir  ?"  "  Yes." 

"  Did  you  not  afterwards  go  to  a  sailor  sitting  on  his  chest, 

27 


322 


LECTURE    XI. 


and  take  his  hand,  and  say,  'friend,  do  you  love  to  read  youi 
Bible  ?'  "  "  Yes."  « I,-  sir,  was  that  sailor  ;  but  then  I  knew 
nothing  about  the  Bible  or  about  God :  I  was  a  poor,  igno- 
rant, degraded  sinner."  I  learned  his  history,  in  substance, 
as  follows.  He  had  been  twenty-five  years  a  sailor,  and 
nearly  all  that  time  in  the  service  of  the  British  navy,  indulg- 
ing in  all  the  extremes  of  a  sailor's  vices.  Drunkenness, 
debauchery,  profaneness  made  up  his  character.  The  fear 
of  death,  or  hell,  or  God,  had  not  entered  his  mind.  Such 
was  he,  a  sink  of  depravity,  when  an  humble  preacher  of 
the  Methodist  denomination,  one  day,  assembled  a  little  con- 
gregation of  sailors  in  the  ship  to  which  he  was  attached,  and 
spoke  on  the  text :  "  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time ;  be- 
hold, now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  He  listened,  merely 
because  the  preacher  was  once  a  sailor.  Soon  it  appeared  to 
him  that  the  latter  saw  and  knew  him,  though  he  was  sitting 
where  he  supposed  himself  concealed.  Every  word  seemed 
to  be  meant  for  a  description  of  him.  To  avoid  being  seen 
and  marked,  he  several  times  changed  his  place,  carefully 
getting  behind  the  others.  But  wherever  he  went,  the  preacher 
seemed  to  follow  him,  and  to  describe  his  course  of  life,  as 
if  he  knew  it  all.  At  length  the  discourse  was  ended ;  and 
the  poor  sailor,  assured  that  he  had  been  the  single  object  of 
the  speaker's  labours,  went  up  and  seized  his  hand,  and  said : 
"  Sir,  I  am  the  very  man.  That's  just  the  life  I  have  led.  I 
am  a  poor  miserable  man ;  but  I  feel  a  desire  to  be  good,  and 
will  thank  you  for  some  of  your  advice  upon  the  subject." 
The  preacher  bade  him  pray.  He  answered,  "  I  have  never 
prayed  in  my  life,  but  that  I  might  be  damned,  as  when  I  was 
swearing ;  and  I  don't  know  how  to  pray."  He  was  instruct- 
ed. It  was  a  day  or  two  after  this,  while  his  mind  was  anx- 
ious but  unenlightened,  that  Providence  led  me  to  him,  sitting 
on  his  chest.  He  said  I  showed  him  a  verse  of  the  Bible,  as 
one  that  would  guide  him.  I  asked  if  he  remembered 
which  it  was.  "Yes,  it  was,  lHim  that  cometh  unto  me  T 
will  in  no  wise,  cast  out.1  "  Soon  after  this,  his  mind  was 


LECTURE  XI.  323 

comforted  with  a  hope  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ 
His  vices  were  all  abandoned.  He  became,  from  that  time, 
a  new  creature  in  all  his  dispositions  and  habits ;  took  special 
care  to  be  scrupulously  attentive  to  every  duty  of  his  station ; 
gained  the  confidence  of  his  officers ;  and,  having  left  the 
service,  has  continued  ever  since  (more  than  three  years) 
an  exemplary  member  of  society,  and  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
He  is  so  entirely  renewed,  that  no  one  could  imagine,  from 
his  appearance  or  manners,  that  he  had  been,  for  twenty-five 
years,  a  drunken,  abandoned  sailor.  This  case  I  have  selected 
only  because  it  was  at  hand.  It  is  by  no  means  a  solitary 
case.  Nor  is  it  any  the  worse  for  being  taken  from  among 
the  poor  and  ignorant.  I  know  not  that  beastly  vice  is  more 
susceptible  of  removal,  or  that  habits  of  drunkenness,  de- 
bauchery, and  profaneness,  are  any  more  capable  of  being 
changed  into  those  of  soberness,  purity,  and  prayer,  for  being 
seated  in  ignorance  and  poverty,  than  when  associated  with 
learning,  rank,  and  opulence. 

Now,  be  it  remarked,  that  the  reality  of  such  cases  is  a 
matter  of  fact,  which  one  may  question  with  about  as  much 
reason  as  he  might  deny  the  best  established  phenomena  in 
natural  history.  Be  it  remarked,  also,  that  in  all  such  effects, 
the  individuals  concerned  have  ascribed  the  total  change  in 
their  hearts  and  lives  to  the  direct  influence  of  the  word  and 
Spirit  of  God,  as  set  forth  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  They 
have  generally  been  able  to  tell  the  particular  truth,  or  com- 
bination of  scriptural  truths,  that  awakened  them  from  the 
death  of  sin,  and  led  them  to  embrace  the  hope  of  Christ  and 
the  life  or  righteousness.  Be  it  remarked,  also,  that  among 
all  the  cases  of  such  conversions  in  all  ages,  and  regions,  and 
circumstances,  and  with  all  varieties  of  character,  there  has 
been  a  wonderful  identity.  The  same  effects,  essentially, 
have  ensued  under  the  application  of  the  same  gospel  in  the 
present  century,  as  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul ;  in  modern  Europe, 
as  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome ;  in  Hindoostan,  as  in  North 
America ;  among  Hottentots,  and  the  islanders  of  the  South 


324  LECTURE    XI. 

sea,  and  savages  of  our  western  borders,  as  among  the  polished 
inhabitants  of  New  York  or  London.  While  all  these  va- 
rieties of  age,  climate,  customs,  and  cultivation,  give  a  natu- 
ral and  pleasing  variety  to  what  may  be  called,  in  a  figure, 
the  complexion,  and  costume,  in  which  the  conversion 
appears ;  the  great  change  itself  exhibits,  under  all  circum- 
stances, the  same  characteristic  and  inimitable  features ; 
insomuch  that  if  you  draw  the  likeness  of  a  genuine  convert 
to  Christ  in  his  chief  peculiarities,  as  manifested  in  this  coun- 
try, and  send  it  to  Burmah,  or  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  or  to 
Caffre-land,  or  to  Whampoa  in  China,  or  to  Greenland,  it 
will  be  considered  a  good  likeness,  in  main  points,  of  the 
dispositions,  affections,  tempers,  habits,  and  life,  produced  by 
the  converting  power  of  the  gospel  in  any  of  those  widely 
differing  regions.  A  genuine  convert  to  Christ,  in  China,  or 
in  Africa,  may  come  to  this  country,  and  find  among  genu- 
ine Christians  here  precisely  his  own  feelings,  tastes,  sympa- 
thies, and  labours,  though  he  never  saw  an  American  or 
European  before ;  and  he  will  be  more  at  home  among  their 
Christian  feelings,  than  he  can  be  among  the  manners  and 
dispositions  of  the  people  among  whom  he  grew  up  and  has 
always  lived.  Thus  it  is  evident  that,  whatever  be  the  cause 
of  these  universally  similar  effects,  it  must  be  the  same  cause, 
universally ;  the  same  in  all  ages,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Now  whether  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  produced  these 
great  and  invariably  corresponding  effects ;  or  whether  they 
proceeded  from  some  other  universal  cause,  of  which  none  of 
the  subjects  were  ever  conscious,  and  which  was  never 
known  where  the  gospel  was  not  known,  and  never  operates 
but  under  the  name,  and  by  means  of,  the  gospel ;  no  man 
of  any  philosophical  pretensions  is  at  liberty  to  doubt.  He 
has  precisely  the  same  reason  to  be  assured  that  the  gospel, 
and  nothing  else  on  earth,  is  the  cause  of  these  admirable 
fruits ;  as  that  any  medicine  is  the  cause  of  a  sick  man's 
recovery  to  health  ;  or  that  any  vine,  rather  than  a  thorn-tree, 
produced  the  grapes  obtained  from  its  branches. 


LECTURE  XI.  325 

Then,  since  these  effects  unquestionably  belong  to  the  gos- 
pel, how  are  they  to  be  accounted  for?  It  will  not  do  to  put 
them  aside,  Under  the  unceremonious  imputation  of  fanati- 
cism or  enthusiastic  excitement.  Words  are  not  reasons. 
Infidel  cant  is  not  philosophical  argument.  If  the  gospel  be 
untrue ;  then,  not  only  must  these  most  excellent  fruits  be 
attributed  to  a  corrupt  tree,  and  these  wholesome  streams  to 
a  poisoned  fountain ;  but  it  must  be  supposed  that  such  sud- 
den and  entire  transformations  of  human  character,  from  the 
lowest  debasement  of  nature,  to  the  highest  principles  of 
virtue  and  purity,  are  nothing  more  than  the  results  of  human 
agency  and  natural  means.  But  if  this  be  the  case ;  if  a 
system  of  untruth  in  the  hand  of  man  has  done  all  this,  we 
have  reason  to  expect  that  some  other  systems  of  doctrine, 
with  the  same  agency,  would  be  productive  of  equal  effects. 
How  then  can  it  be  accounted  for,  that  nothing  has  ever  been 
invented  or  heard  of,  in  all  the  earth,  to  which  any  results  of 
a  like  kind  could  be  ascribed  ?  Other  causes  have  produced 
strong  excitements,  but  no  transformation  of  heart  and  life, 
from  sin  to  holiness.  Other  means  have  improved  the  morals 
of  men,  by  slow  and  in  small  degrees ;  but  none  ever  took 
hold  of  a  human  wreck,  and  lifted  him  up  out  of  the  mire 
and  dirt  of  his  profligacy,  and  carried  him  at  once  across  the 
wide  gulf  that  separated  him-  from  pureness,  and  in  a  few 
days  placed  him  in  a  new  moral  region,  with  a  new  heart, 
and,  in  all  things,  a  new  creature.  How  can  this  be  ex- 
plained, if  the  gospel  be  a  human  invention,  and  its  effects  of 
human  production?  Why  should  not  infidels  be  capable 
with  all  their  wisdom  and  eloquence,  of  getting  up  a  set  of 
influences  to  rival  these  gospel  wonders,  and  deprive  Chris- 
tians of  this  monopoly  of  the  work  of  new  creation  and  of 
holiness  ?  How  is  it  that  in  proportion  as  any  church  de- 
generates from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  gospel,  it 
ceases  to  witness  such  changes  in  the  people  attendant  on  its 
preaching  ?  It  is  nothing  to  say  that  many  things  called  con- 
versions eventuate  in  no  good  fruits,  and  are  nothing  more 

27* 


326  LECTURE  XI. 

than  the  natural  consequences  of  temporary  excitement.  This 
is  freely  granted.  But  you  do  not  condemn  a  whole  orchard, 
because  some  of  the  trees  were  not  successfully  grafted ;  nor 
all  virtuous  men,  because  some,  under  the  profession  of  virtue, 
are  mere  pretenders.  It  is  sufficient  that  thousands  and 
thousands  of  these  effects  have  been  of  the  most  radical  and 
permanently  beneficial  character.  Were  they  of  human  pro- 
duction, something  of  a  corresponding  kind  would  have 
appeared  from  other  sources  ;  by  other  hands  than  those  of 
Christians ;  in  other  countries  and  ages  than  those  enlightened 
by  the  Bible.  Inasmuch  as  this  has  never  occurred,  we  are 
fully  warranted  in  concluding  that  it  could  not;  consequently, 
that  these  effects  are  above  the  reach  of  human  power.  To 
wtwm  then  shall  we  go  but  unto  thee,  O  Lord !  who  hast 
committed  this  treasure  of  the  gospel  to  earthen  vessels,  to 
feeble  men,  to  dispense  it ;  "  that  the  excellency  of  the  power 
may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  us."  That  we  cannot  compre- 
hend in  what  manner  the  power  of  God  operates  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  to  work  such  wonderful  revolutions  in  their 
characters,  is  no  valid  objection  to  the  matter  of  fact.  "  The 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  i't  cometh  and  whither  it 
goeth."  The  phenomena  of  the  winds  are  incomprehensible, 
and  yet  believed.  "  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.1" 

Now,  I  think  we  may  be  content  to  pass  from  the  position 
with  which  we  began — that  the  moral  transformations  which 
the  gospel,  in  all  ages,  has  notoriously  wrought,  and,  by  un- 
questionable proofs,  exhibited  to  the  world,  in  the  character's 
of  those  who  have  become  its  genuine  disciples,  cannot  be 
accounted  for,  but  on  the  supposition  of  a  divine  power  accom- 
panying its  operations. 

II.  We  proceed  to  speak  of  the  fruits  of  Christianity,  as  dis- 
played in  the  lives  of  its  genuine  disciples,  in  contrast  with 
those  which  notoriously  characterize  the  lives  of  its  opposers. 
The  virtues  of  true  Christians  have  been  the  same  in  all  ages 
of  Christianity.  It  was  'Swith  well  doing"  that,  in  the  days 


LECTURE   XI.  327 

of  St.  Paul,  they  were  accustomed  to  silence  their  enemies. 
Having  become  free  from  sin,  they  became  servants  of 
righteousness,  and  had  their  fruit  unto  holiness.  "  Such  were 
some  of  you,"  saith  St.  Paul  to  Christians  of  that  famous 
brothel  of  all  Greece,  the  city  of  Corinth;  "  Such  were  some 
of  you  (partakers  in  all  vice);  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  by  the  spirit  of  our  God."  The  apostles  could  appeal  to 
whole  communities,  for  evidence  of  their  blameless  character. 
"  Ye  are  witnesses  and  God  also,  how  holily,  and  justly,  and 
unblameably  we  behaved  ourselves  among  you."  Even  by 
the  testimony  of  the  ancient  and  deadly  enemies  of  the  gospel, 
the-  lives  of  Christians  had  no  parallel  among  any  other 
people.  The  early  defenders  of  the  faith  publicly  challenged 
a  scrutiny  of  their  virtue.  It  was  their  remarkable  steadfast- 
ness in  resisting  the  allurements  of  vice,  and  their  heroic 
patience,  under  all  the  tortures  employed  to  break  their  attach- 
ment to  holiness,  that  often  excited  the  bitterest  hatred  of  their 
enemies.  Compare  the  purity,  benevolence,  and  humility  of 
the  apostles,  with  those  of  any  philosophers  of  antiquity,  or 
any  leaders  in  modern  infidelity.  Pliny,  the  Roman  governor, 
in  the  first  century,  having  investigated  extensively,  and  even 
by  torture,  the  moral  character  of  the  Christians,  who  filled 
the  province  over  which  he  presided,  declares,  in  his  cele- 
brated letter  to  Trajan,  that  he  could  discover  nothing  more 
against  them  than  that  "  they  were  accustomed,  on  a  stated 
day,  to  meet  before  daylight,  and  to  repeat  among  themselves 
a  hymn  to  Christ  as  to  a  god,  and  to  bind  themselves  by  an 
oath  not  to  commit  any  wickedness ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  to 
abstain  from  thefts,  robberies,  and  adulteries ;  also  not  to  vio- 
late their  promise,  or  deny  a  pledge ;  after  which  it  was  their 
custom  to  separate,  and  to  meet  again  at  a  promiscuous,  harm- 
less meal."  Gibbon  fully  sustains  this  testimony.  By  his 
description  alone,  the  primitive  Christians  were  lights  of  une- 
qualled excellence  in  the  midst  of  heathen  darkness  and 
depravity  What  Christians  were  in  primitive  a^es,  they  still 


328 


LECTURE  XI. 


remain,  exactly  in  proportion  as  you  have  reason  to  believe 
their  hearts  to  be  engaged  in  their  faith.  To  say  in  this  coun- 
try that  any  one  is  a  true  Christian,  is  at  once  to  give  a 
certificate  that  he  is  worthy  of  all  confidence,  and  more  than 
usually  virtuous :  we  could  not  desire  a  more  complete  proof 
of  public  opinion  as  to  the  personal  fruits  of  the  gospel.  The 
bare  fact  that  there  are  hypocritical  professors  of  the  Christian 
character ;  that  bad  men  will  put  themselves  to  the  self  denial 
of  endeavouring  to  act  and  seem  like  Christians,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  gaining  confidence  in  their  integrity,  is  a  strong  prooi 
of  the  public  estimation  in  which  Christian  virtue  is  held,  and 
of  the  genuine  gold  of  which  the  character  of  a  real  disciple 
of  Christ  is  composed.  Men  never  counterfeit  a  spurious 
currency.  Copper  coin  is  too  cheap  to  tempt  a  forgery.  We 
never  hear  of  the  wicked  putting  on  the  mask  of  infidelity. 
to  secure  a  character  for  honesty,  soberness,  chastity,  faithful- 
ness, arid  benevolence.  If  Christian  virtue  were  not  in  high 
repute,  and  much  more  current  in  society  than  any  other, 
hypocrites  would  take  care  to  choose  a  mask  that  would  sit 
more  pleasantly  upon  their  vicious  propensities  ;  they  would 
select  a  cloak  that  would  less  confine,  and  smother  their 
sinful  habits.  It  is  notorious  among  us  that  no  sooner  do  we 
hear  of  an  individual  that  he  has  become  a  communicant  in 
the  church,  than  the  presumption  is  that  he  is  not  only  sober, 
honest,  and  of  pure  morality ;  but  that  he  has  adopted  princi- 
ples of  a  very  elevated  virtue  and  purity,  and  is  more  than 
ordinarily  benevolent.  Whence  this,  but  from  the  general 
experience  of  what  communicants  are?  What  is  it.  that 
makes  a  breach  of  truth  and  honesty,  or  an  act  of  cruelty,  or 
a'  violation  of  justice,  or  a  departure  from  chastity  or  tempe- 
rance, in  a  person  professing  to  be  a  genuine  Christian,  so 
immediately  and  generally  a  matter  of  particular  notice  and 
surprise  among  all  classes  ?  Is  it  not  because  such  occur- 
rences are  singular,  and  little  expected  ?  But  they  excite  no 
surprise,  and  but  little  attention,  when  attached  to  those  who 


LECTUBfi   XI.  329 

reject  Christianity;  because  among  such  people  they  are 
neither  singular  nor  unexpected. 

Why  is  it  that  parents  so  universally  prefer  to  have  genu- 
ine Christians  intrusted  with  the  education  of  their  children? 
that  when  places  of  trust  and  temptation  are  to  be  filled ; 
when  men  have  property  to  invest,  or  agents  to  engage,  in  a 
business  requiring  special  inflexibility  of  uprightness,  they 
feel  it  to  be  at  once  a  heavy  weight  in  the  scale  of  a  candi- 
date, that  he  is  a  sincere  and  devoted  Christian  ?*  Who  are 
the  benevolent,  disinterested,  self-denied  labourers  in  all  good 
works  ?  Where  do  the  poor,  and  hungry,  and  outcast,  apply 
for  assistance  with  the  most  confidence  of  finding  a  sympa- 
thizing heart  and  a  ready  hand  ?  Go  around  to  all  the  noble 
institutions  of  charity ;  to  the  asylums  for  orphans,  for  wid- 
ows, for  the  blind,  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  for  juvenile  crimi- 
nals ;  to  the  schools  of  gratuitous  instruction.  Take  a  list 
of  those  who  give  money,  and  time,  and  toil,  for  their  support. 
What  would  become  of  them,  were  it  not  for  the  Christians 
associated  in  all  their  concerns?  Who  are  they  that  tread 
the  loathsome  alleys,  and  dive  into  the  wretched  habitations 

*  The  lecturer  was  once  particularly  struck  with  the  evidence  of  this.  He 
was  connected  with  the  military  academy  at  West  Point.  Two  offices  of 
great  importance  to  the  discipline  of  the  corps  of  cadets  were  to  be  filled  from 
its  own  ranks.  The  order  of  the  academy  had  suffered  materially  for  want 
of  officers  in  those  places  who  would  not  swerve  from  duty  out  of  deference  to 
the  public  opinion,  the  persuasions  or  threatenings  of  their  fellows.  Two  ca- 
dets were  selected,  who  had  recently  become  professors  of  religion.  They 
were  assailed  with  all  manner  of  influence  to  induce  them  to  relax  in  favour 
of  certain  indulgences  to  which  a  portion  of  the  corps  had  been  accustomed 
at  the  hands  of  their  predecessors.  I  need  not  say  they  mildly,  but  firmly 
held  to  their  duty.  One  day,  as  they  were  leading  oat  the  companies  to 
which  they  were  attached,  for  evening  parade,  I  said  to  an  officer  of  the  insti- 
tution who  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  their  selection:  "Why  have  you 
chosen  these  cadets  for  such  places  ?  One  of  them,  indeed,  has  a  fine  soldierly 
appearance;  but  the  other  is  just  the  contrary,  and  has  nothing  of  the  soldier 
about  him."  "  Why  (said  he),  the  truth  is,  we  required  those  who  would  do 
their  duty  without  regard  to  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  others  or  to  the 
custom  that  has  been  prevalent  in  the  corps ;  and  we  knew  they  would  be 
firm."  I  never  heard  of  this  confidence,  being  disappointed. 


330  LECTURE   XI. 

of  vice  and  poverty,  in  crowded  cities,  in  cold  winter,  hunting 
up  the  wretched  subjects  of  disease  and  pollution,  for  the 
purpose  of  relieving  and  reclaiming  them  ?  Who  put  them- 
selves to  the  painful  work  of  begging  for  the  poor,  and  after 
bearing  all  the  extreme  unpleasantness  of  such  a  task,  finish 
their  labour  in  the  careful  distribution  of  their  hard  earned 
alms,  asking  no  recompense  but  that  of  doing  good  ? 

From  Christians  in  general,  turn  your  attention  to  their 
leaders.  Is  it  not  well  known  that  when  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel can  be  commended  for  nothing  more  than  a  moral  life  and 
unblemished  honesty,  it  is  considered  a  positive  condemna- 
tion ?  To  give  him  the  highest  praise  that  a  Deist  can  pre- 
tend to,  and  then  to  say  no  more,  is  to  leave  his  character 
under  a  taint.  It  is  expected  that  he  will  be  more  than 
moral,  and  honest,  and  friendly.  You  look  that  he  shall  be 
holy;  eminently  pure;  full  of  active  benevolence,  going 
about  doing  good.  Prove  that  he  is  destitute  of  these  distin- 
guished virtues,  and  public  opinion  will  adjudge  him  unwor- 
thy of  his  name  and  profession.  That  all  ministers  are  not 
exemplary  and  devotedly  holy  men,  only  proves  that  the 
sacred  office,  like  all  others,  is  liable  to  be  intruded  on  by  the 
unworthy.  Every  body  knows  that  such  cases,  instead  of 
being  favoured  by  the  influence  of  Christianity,  are  directly 
opposed  to  it.  But  subtract  from  the  number  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  every  one  on  whom  the  least  suspicion  of 
a  want  of  virtue  ever  rested  ;  leave  none,  but  those  who  at 
any  moment  can  obtain,  from  all  that  know  them,  the  praise 
of  being  the  excellent  of  the  earth ;  and  what  a  host  will 
remain  of  men  whose  lives  are  conspicuous  examples  of 
inflexible  integrity  and  of  exalted  principles  of  purity  and 
holiness ;  whose  daily  strength  is  laid  out  in  efforts  to  benefit 
their  fellow-creatures  ;  and  around  whom,  at  the  bare  men- 
tion of  a  charge  implicating  their  characters,  will  be  collected 
the  widow,  the  fatherless,  the  stranger,  with  those  who  have 
been  lifted  up  out  of  ignorance,  or  reclaimed  from  profligacy, 


LECTURE   XI.  331 

or  delivered  from  wretchedness,  in  grateful  defence  of  their 
best  earthly  benefactors. 

Now,  for  the  sake  of  a  contrast,  let  us  turn  to  the  lives  of 
infidels.  I  do  not  deny  that  there  are  instances  of  such  men, 
who  have  led  what  passes  for  a  good  moral  life ;  men  of  fait 
dealing  in  business,  and  of  sober,  decent  habits ;  whom  pub 
lie  opinion,  the  customs  of  society,  intellectual  occupations, 
and  prosperous  circumstances,  have  preserved  from  the 
slavery  of  low  propensities  and  criminal  deeds.  But  what  is 
there  in  such  virtue,  beyond  a  fair  outside  ?  Is  it  formed 
upon  any  foundation  more  meritorious  than  that  of  reputa- 
tion, interest,  and  the  expectation  of  society?  Could  you 
trust  its  purity  in  the  presence  of  strong  temptation  ?  What 
would  become  of  it,  should  interest,  reputation,  and  human 
customs,  withdraw  their  countenance,  and  preach  a  contrary 
practice  ?  But  we  speak  of  infidels,  as  a  body.  The  fact 
that  a  few  are  singled  out  and  marked  as  sober,  honest,  moral 
men,  only  proves  that  such  cases  are  exceptions  to  the  cha- 
racter of  the  heterogeneous  body  with  which  they  are  asso- 
ciated. It  is  a  general  rule,  that  when  you  say  of  a  man 
"  he  is  an  infidel,"  it  is  to  say  that  he  is  not  a  moral  man : 
not  a  benevolent  man ;  not  a  person  to  engage  in  any  self- 
denying  labours  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good.  This  is  pub- 
lic opinion,  the  result  of  a  long  experiment  of  infidelity.  Its 
foundation  may  be  seen  in  the  whole  history  of  criminal 
jurisprudence ;  in  the  records  of  our  courts ;  the  annals  of 
our  penitentiaries ;  the  police  of  large  cities ;  the  inner 
chambers  of  the  gambling  house  and  the  brothel.  Cases  of 
seduction,  adultery,  and  suicide,  are  the  authorities  to  which 
reference  should  be  made  for  the  fruits  of  infidelity,  as  gene- 
rally exhibited. 

A  French  writer,  addressing  Voltaire,  asks  him:  "Will 
you  dare  assert  that  it  is  in  philosophic  families  we  are  to 
look  for  models  of  filial  respect,  conjugal  love,  sincerity  in 
friendship,  or  fidelity  among  domestics  ?  Were  you  disposed 
to  do  so,  would  not  your  own  conscience,  your  own  expe- 


332  LECTURE   XI. 

nence,  suppress  the  falsehood,  even  before  your  lips  could 
utter  it?"  An  anecdote  in  point  is  related  by  Fuller.  A 
man  of  literary  eminence,  but  an  infidel,  was  accustomed  to 
converse  with  a  brother  sceptic  where  they  were  necessarily 
heard  by  a  pious  but  uneducated  countryman.  Afterwards, 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  educated  infidel  became  an  humble 
Christian.  Feeling,  now,  a  serious  concern  lest  his  conversa- 
tion should  have  poisoned  the  mind  of  the  countryman,  he 
inquired  if  such  was  the  fact.  "  By  no  means,"  answered 
the  other  ;  "  it  never  made  the  least  impression."  "  No  im- 
pression !  Why  you  must  have  known  that  we  had  read 
and  thought  on  these  things  much  more  than  you  had  any 
opportunity  of  doing."  "O  yes,"  said  the  other;  "but  I 
knew  also  your  manner  of  living:  I  knew  that  to  maintain 
such  a  course  of  conduct  you  found  it  necessary  to  renounce 
Christianity."* 

It  is  well  known  how  very  seldom  such  a  thing  has  occur- 
red as  the  detection,  in  any  penitentiary  crime,  of  one  who 
had  enjoyed  the  benefit,  for  a  considerable  period,  of  a  Sun- 
day school  education ;  although,  during  the  last  twenty 
years,  millions,  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  have 
had  that  privilege.  What  if  all  these  had  been  trained,  with 
equal  diligence,  in  schools  of  infidelity !  How  differently 
would  the  effects  of  the  system  have  been  marked  upon  the 
records  of  crime,  and  upon  the  peace,  purity,  and  order 
of  society ! 

The  precise  difference  between  the  fruits  of  Christianity 
and  of  infidelity,  as  exhibited  in  the  general  assemuly  of  their 
respective  professors,  consists  in  this :  There  are  those  who 
profess  to  be  Christians,  and  yet  are  wicked  men ;  but  they 
are  wicked  in  direct  opposition  to  the  influence  of  Christianity 
as  well  as  to  the  characters  and  influence  of  those  with  whom 
they  are  connected.  There  are,  also,  those  who  profess  to  be 
infidels,  and  yet  are  men  of  sobriety,  and  amiableness,  and 
moral  deportment ;  but  they  are  such,  in  direct  opposition  to 

*  Gospel  its  own  Witness. 


LECTURE    XI.  333 

the  influence  of  infidelity,  as  well  as  to  the  characters  and 
influence  of  those  with  whom,  as  infidels,  they  are  associated. 
The  former  and  the  latter  are  alike  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule. 

But  let  us  turn  from  infidels  in  general,  to  their  teachers 
and  leaders.  A  stream  is  seldom  purer  than  its  fountain.  A 
ri  ver  rises  no  higher  than  its  source.  We  may  consider  the 
chief  priests  and  scribes,  the  elders,  and  rulers,  and  cham- 
pions of  infidelity,  who  have  constructed  its  various  creeds  arid 
composed  its  books  of  scripture — its  Humes,  and  Tindals, 
and  Bolingbrokes,  and  Paines,  and  Voltaires,  and  Rousseaus 
— as  affording,  in  the  average  of  their  character,  a  fair  stand- 
ard for  the  measurement  of  the  moral  stature  of  infidels  in 
general.  What,  then,  was  the  moral  worth  of  those  re- 
nowned leaders  in  the  war  against  Christianity?  Let  w 
look  at  their  principles. 

Herbert  maintained  that  the  indulgence  of  lust  and  anger 
is  no  more  to  be  blamed  than  the  thirst  of  a  fever,  or  the 
drowsiness  of  a  lethargy.  Thus,  every  vicious  propensity 
was  licensed.  Hobbes,  that  every  man  has  a  right  to  all 
things,  and  may  lawfully  get  them  if  he  can.  Thus,  all 
theft  was  licensed.  Again,  that  a  subject  may  lawfully  deny 
Christ  before  a  magistrate,  although  he  believes  Christ  in  his 
heart.  Thus,  all  hypocrisy  was  licensed.  Again,  that  a 
ruler  is  not  bound  by  any  obligation  of  truth  or  justice,  and 
can  do  no  wrong  to  his  subjects.  Thus,  all  tyrannical  op- 
pression and  cruelty  were  licensed.  Again,  that  the  civil 
law  is  the  sole  foundation  of  good  and  evil ;  of  right  and 
wrong.  Thus,  moral  principle  is  as  various  as  climate  and 
country,  and  vice  in  one,  may  be  exalted  virtue  in  another. 
Hume  maintained  that  self-denial,  self-mortification,  and 
humility,  ire  not  virtuous,  but  useless  and  mischievous ;  that 
pride  and  self-valuation,  ingenuity,  eloquence,  strength  of 
body,  &c.,  are  virtues  ;  that  suicide  is  lawful  and  commenda- 
ble ;  that  adultery  must  be  practised,  if  we  would  obtain  all 
the  advantages  of  life ;  that  female  infidelity,  when  known, 


334 


LECTURE    XI. 


is  a  small  thing;  when  unknown,  nothing.  Bolingbroke, 
that  ambition,  the  lust  of  power,  avarice,  and  sensuality,  may 
be  lawfully  gratified,  if  they  can  be  safely  gratified ;  that 
modesty  is  inspired  by  mere  prejudice,  and  has  its  sole  founda- 
tion in  vanity;  that  man's  chief  end  is  to  gratify  the  appe- 
tites and  inclinations  of  the  flesh  ;  that  '-  adultery  is  no  viola- 
tion of  the  law,  or  religion  of  nature  ;  that  there  is  no  wrong 
in  lewdness,  except  in  the  highest  incest."* 

These  principles  will  suffice  as  specimens  of  infidel  writers 
in  regard  to  moral  obligation.  It  is  fair  to  judge  men  by 
their  professions.  Few  rise  above  their  opinions,  in  practice ; 
none,  in  heart.  When  one  contends  that  he  may  innocently 
indulge  his  vicious  propensities,  we  need  not  doubt  that  he 
does  indulge  them.  These  writers  either  believed  what  they 
professed,  or  they  did  not.  If  the  latter,  they  were  gross 
hypocrites,  endeavouring  to  spread  what  they  knew  was 
deadly  poison.  If  the  former,  then  tell  me  what  kind  of 
practice,  what  veracity,  what  honesty,  what  chastity,  or  any 
other  virtue,  can  be  supposed  to  have  dwelt  in  men  who  in 
grave,  philosophical  discussions  could  publish  such  senti- 
ments to  the  world  ?  Had  we  no  other  evidence  of  the  lives 
they  led,  we  might  conclude  with  certainty,  from  these  pro- 
fessed opinions,  that,  while  one,  here  and  there,  may  not  have 
carried  them  out  to  their  full  extent,  none  could  have  been, 
in  any  sense,  good  men;  while  the  generality  must  have 
been  without  any  regard  to  truth  ;  guilty  of  gross  hypocrisy 
and  dissimulation ;  willing  to  ofler  any  sacrifice  at  the  shrine 
of  ambition  and  human  praise;  unbridled  in  temper  and 
passion ;  seducers,  adulterers,  and  corrupters  of  their  fellow- 
creatures.  Such  is  the  description  which,  so  far  as  any 
accounts  of  their  private  characters  have  been  received,  is 
fully  sustained  by  facts. 

Hume  pretended  to  a  great  diligence  in  search  of  truth 
and  spent  all  his  powers  against  the  gospel,  and  yet,  says  Dr. 
Johnson,  "  confessed  that  he  had  never  read  the  New  Testa- 

*  See  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 


LECTURE    XI.  335 

merit  with  attention."  His  friend  in  scepticism,  Adam  Smith, 
considered  him  "  as  approaching  as  nearly  to  the  idea  of  a 
perfectly  wise  and  virtuous  man  as  perhaps  the  nature  of  hu- 
man frailty  will  permit."  But  since,  in  his  estimation,  female 
infidelity,  when  unknown,  was  nothing;  one  needs  pretty  posi 
tive  evidence  to  believe  that  he  was  specially  pure.* 

Gibbon's  moral  character  is  seen  in  his  History  of  the 
Roman  empire ;  a  work  full  of  hypocrisy,  perversion,  and 
impurity ;  the  production  of  a  mind  as  unchaste,  as  it  was 
insidious.  When  he  could  not  find  an  occasion  to  insult 
Christianity,  he  made  it,  by  false  glosses  or  dishonest  colour- 
ings. "  A  rage  for  indecency  pervades  the  whole  work ; 
but  especially  the  last  volumes.  If  the  history  were  anony- 
mous, I  should  guess  that  these  disgraceful  obscenities  were 
written  by  some  debauchee,  who  having  from  age,  or  accident, 
or  excess,  survived  the  practice  of  lust,  still  indulged  himself 
in  its  speculations  ;  and  exposed  the  impotent  imbecility,  after 
he  had  lost  the  vigour,  of  the  passions."t  This  was  no 
11  arrow  shot  at  a  venture." 

*  That  Hume  was  virtuous,  without  chastity,  is  evident  from  his  essays. 
They  contain  passages,  by  way  of  wit  or  illustration,  not  only  gratuitously 
introduced,  but  forced  in  Ny  a  mere  amateur  taste  of  the  writer,  which  a  chaste 
mind  would  not  have  thought  of,  and  a  man  of  chaste  habits  and  principles 
would  have  rejected,  as  both  polluting  to  his  pages  and  disgraceful  to  his  cha- 
racter. I  cannot  believe  that  one  who  could  venture  on  such  sentences  before 
the  public  eye,  and  show  such  pleasure  and  evident  facility  in  grovelling  inde- 
cencies of  writing,  was  free  from  unclean  practice  where  no  public  eye  was 
to  be  encountered.  And  still,  in  Adam  Smith's  opinion,  he  may  have  been 
"  as  perfectly  virtuous  as  the  nature  of  human  frailly  would  permit"  What 
exceptions  are  included  under  this  last  clause,  who  can  say  1  In  an  infidel's 
creed,  virtue  has  no  more  quarrel  with  unchasteness,  than  in  the  creed  of  the 
Spartans,  it  had  with  theft.  Among  the  latter,  nothing  was  required  to  make 
stealing  virtuous  but  concealment.  Among  the  virtuosi  of  infidelity,  what 
more  is  required  to  establish  the  innocence  of  impurity  1 

The  person  who  put  out  an  edition  of  Hume's  Essays  in  this  country,  dedi- 
cating it  to  the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  lauding  Hume  and  his 
principles  to  the  skies,  showed  very  plainly  how  he  had  profited  by  hii 
favourite  volume,  at  least  by  the  Essay  in  defence  of  Suicide — He  killei) 
himself  by  drunkenness ! 

t  Porson. 


336  LECTURE   XI. 

What  gross  hypocrisy  and  lying  pervade  the  writings  of 
Herbert,  Hobbes,  Shaftesbury,  Woolston,  Tindal,  Collins, 
Blount.  Chubb,  and  Bolingbroke !  One  while  they  are 
praising  Christianity,  exalting  Jesus,  professing  to  have  the 
sincerest  desire  that  the  gospel  may  be  promoted.  At  another 
time,  they  are  scoffing  at  its  essential  doctrines  ;  charging  its 
Founder  with  imposture  ;  and  diligently  labouring  to  destroy 
it.  Hobbes  affirms  that  the  scriptures  are  the  voice  of  God, 
and  the  foundation  of  all  obligation  ;  and  yet  that  all  religion 
is  ridiculous.  Shaftesbury  says  that  it  is  censurable  to 
represent  the  gospel  as  a  fraud ;  that  he  hopes  its  enemies  will 
be  reconciled  to  it,  and  its  friends,  prize  it  more  highly ;  and 
yet  he  represents  salvation  as  ridiculous  ;  insinuates  that  the 
designs  of  Christ  were  those  of  deep  ambition,  and  his  zeal 
and  spirit  savage  and  persecuting ;  that  the  scriptures  were 
an  artful  invention  for  mercenary  purposes.  Collins  protests 
that  none  are  further  from  being  engaged  in  the  cause  of 
infidelity ;  that  he  writes  for  the  honour  of  Jesus,  and  the 
defence  of  Christianity ;  to  advance  the  Messiahship  and 
truth  of  the  holy  Jesus,  "  to  whom?  he  says,  "  be  glory  for 
ever  and  ever,  amen  ;"  and  yet  he  casts  the  most  scurrilous 
reflections  on  this  holy  One,  compares  the  gospels  to  Gul- 
liverian  tales,  says  they  are  full  of  absurdities,  and  must  be 
rejected,  and  the  authority  of  Jesus  along  with  them.* 

Such  are  a  few  examples  of  the  honesty  of  such  men. 
What  if  Christians  should  thus  flatter  infidelity,  and  next 
revile  it  ?  When  would  their  opponents  cease  exposing  their 
hypocrisy  ?  The  best  of  infidel  writers  cannot  be  trusted  on 
the  score  of  veracity,  when  Christianity  is  in  question.  The 
corruption  of  the  texts  of  books,  the  misrepresentation  of 
facts,  the  grossest  unfairness  in  citations,  are  accounted 
lawful  by  their  Humes  and  Gibbons  in  this  controversy 
One  of  their  own  fraternity  may  here  be  allowed  to  testify, 
"  If,"  says  Rousseau,  "  our  philosophers  were  able  to  discovei 
truth,  which  of  them  would  interest  himself  about  it? 

*  Dwight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 


LECTURE  XI.  33? 

There  is  not  one  among  them  who  would  not  prefer  his 
own  error  to  the  truth  discovered  by  another.  Where  is  the 
philosopher,  who,  for  his  own  glory,  would  not  willingly 
deceive  the  whole  human  race?"  1  need  not  spend  time, 
after  all  that  has  been  exhibited,  in  showing  that  such  leaders 
in  infidelity  have  evinced  no  spirit  of  benevolence,  no 
disposition  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellow-creatures  ; 
but  on  the  contrary,  have  lived  unto  themselves,  and  almost 
without  exception,  cultivated  the  coldest  selfishness. 

But  to  speak  more  directly  of  the  morals  of  leading  infi- 
dels. Bolingbroke  was  a  libertine  of  intemperate  habits  and 
unrestrained  lust.  Temple  was  a  corrupter  of  all  that  came 
near  him,  given  up  to  ease  and  pleasure.  Emerson,  an 
eminent  mathematician,  was  "  rude,  vulgar,  and  frequently 
immoral.'1  "  Intoxication  and  profane  language  were  familiar 
to  him.  Towards  the  close  of  life,  being  afflicted  with  the 
stone,  he  would  crawl  about  the  floor  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  sometimes  praying,  sometimes  swearing,"  The 
morals  of  the  Earl  of  Rochester  are  well  known.  Godwin 
was  a  lewd  man  by  his  own  confession,  as  well  as  the 
unblushing  advocate  of  lewdness.  Shaftesbury  and  Collins, 
while  endeavouring  to  destroy  the  gospel,  partook  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  thus  professing  Christian  faith  for  admission 
to  office !  "  Woolston  was  a  gross  blasphemer.  Blount 
solicited  his  sister  in-law  to  marry  him  ;  and  being  refused, 
shot  himself.  Tindal  was  originally  a  protestant,  then  turned 
papist,  then  protestant  again,  merely  to  suit  the  times  ;  and 
was  at  the  same  time  infamous  for  vice  in  general,  and  the 
total  want  of  principle.  He  is  said  to  have  died  with  this 
prayer  in  his  mouth:  'If  there  is  a  God,  I  desire  that  he 
may  have  mercy  on  me.'  Hobbes  wrote  his  Leviathan  to 
serve  the  cause  of  Charles  I. ;  but  finding  him  fail  of  success, 
he  turned  it  to  the  defence  of  Cromwell,  and  made  a  merit 
Df  this  fact  to  the  usurper  :  as  Hobbes  himself  unblushingly 
declared  to  Lord  Clarendon.""  Need  I  describe  Voltaire  ? — 

*  D wight  on  Infidel  Philosophy. 

28" 


338  LECTURE  XI. 

prince  of  scoffers,  as  Hume  was  prince  of  sceptics ;  in 
childhood,  initiated  into  infidelity ;  in  boyhood,  famous  for 
daring  blasphemy  ;  in  manhood,  distinguished  for  a  malig- 
nant, violent  temper,  for  cold-blooded  disruptions  of  all  the 
ties  and  decencies  of  the  family  circle,  for  the  ridicule  of 
whatever  was  affecting,  and  the  violation  of  whatever  was 
confidential !  Ever  increasing  in  duplicity  and  hypocritical 
management,  with  age  and  practice ;  those  whom  his  wit 
attracted  and  his  buffoonery  amused,  were  either  disgusted  or 
polluted  by  his  loathsome  vices.  Lies  and  oaths,  in  their 
support,  were  nothing  to  his  maw.  Those  whom  he  openly 
called  his  friends,  he  took  pains  secretly  to  calumniate; 
flattering  them  to  their  faces,  ridiculing  and  reviling  them 
behind  their  backs.  Years  only  added  stiffness  to  the 
disgusting  features  of  his  impiety,  coldness  to  his  dark 
malignity,  and  fury  to  his  impetuous  temper.  Throughout 
life,  he  was  given  up  "  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi- 
ness." Such  was  the  witty  Voltaire,  who,  in  the  midst  of 
his  levity,  had  feeling  and  seriousness  enough  to  wish  he 
had  never  been  born. 

What  shall  we  say  of  J.  J.  Rousseau  ? — a  thief,  and  liar,  and 
debauched  profligate,  by  his  own  "  Confession."  Educated  a 
protestant,  he  turned  papist  for  "subsistence;"  and  afterwards 
professed  protestantism  again  at  Geneva,  that  he  might  enjoy 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  while  all  the  while  he  was  a  foul- 
mouthed  infidel.  He  began  life  as  an  apprentice.  Having 
robbed  his  master  and  others,  he  fled  and  became  a  footman,  in 
which  capacity,  having  again  acted  the  thief,  he  tried  to  swear 
the  crime  on  a  maid-servant,  who  lost  her  place  by  his  villany. 
Stealing  he  never  abandoned,  however  abandoned  himself. 
Late  in  life,  he  said :  "  I  have  been  a  rogue,  and  am  so  still, 
for  trifles  which  I  had  rather  take  than  ask  for."  Of  his 
intercourse  with  vile  women ;  how  he  took  advantage  of  the 
hospitality  of  friends  to  ruin  the  characters  of  those  who  re- 
ceived him  kindly ;  how  he  coldly  committed,  one  by  one, 
the  offsprings  of  his  base  connexions  to  the  charity  of  the 


LECTURE  XI.  339 

public,  that  he  might  be  spared  their  trouble  and  have  room 
for  more ;  how  utterly  devoid  was  this  talented  infidel  of  all 
natural  affection,  as  well  as  all  decency ;  my  lecture  is  too 
modest  to  relate.  To  use  his  own  language,  guilty  without 
remorse,  he  soon  became  so  without  measure.  Such  was  the 
man  whom  infidels  have  delighted  to  honour.  The  friends 
of  Christ  have  reason  to  thank  him  for  saying,  "  /  cannot 
believe  the  gospel."  "  For  what  communion  hath  light  with 
darkness  ?  And  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?" 

Nothing  but  the  circulation  attempted,  of  late,  to  be  given 
to  the  scurrilous  writings  of  Paine,  induces  me  to  descend 
low  enough  amidst  "  the  offscouring  of  all  things,"  to  speak 
of  the  life  of  that  miserable  man.  His  first  wife  is  said  to 
have  died  by  ill  usage.  His  second  was  rendered  so  misera- 
ble by  neglect  and  unkindness,  that  they  separated  by  mutual 
agreement.  His  third  companion,  not  his  wife,  was  the  victim 
of  his  seduction,  while  he  lived  upon  the  hospitality  of  her 
husband.  Holding  a  place  in  the  excise  of  England,  he  was 
dismissed  for  irregularity ;  restored,  and  dismissed  again  for 
fraud,  without  recovery.  Unable  to  get  employment  where 
he  was  known,  he  came  to  this  country,  commenced  politician, 
and  pretended  to  some  faith  in  Christianity.  Congress  gave 
him  an  office,  from  which,  being  soon  found  guilty  of  a  breach 
of  trust,  he  was  expelled  with  disgrace.*  The  French  revolu- 

*  The  statement  in  the  text,  the  author  is  informed,  is  not  precisely  accurate. 
Paine  was  not  expelled  from  his  office;  but  resigned  it,  to  avoid  expulsion. 
The  author  is  much  indebted  to  the  Hon.  William  Jay,  for  the  following 
valuable  extract  from  a  document  found  among  the  papers  of  his  father,  the 
Hon.  John  Jay.  The  document  was  written  while  Mr.  Jay  was  Minister  to 
Spain,  about  the  year  1780,  and  was  an  introduction  to  an  intended  history 
of  his  Spanish  negotiations.  The  annexed  extract  would  make  a  valuable 
page  in  a  history  of  Paine. 

"  It  is  proper  to  observe  that  Mr.  Deane,  in  consequence  of  his  recall,  returned 
to  America  in  1778 ;  and  that  on  his  arrival,  Congress  went  into  an  inquiry 
into  his  conduct.  Mr.  Deane  published  a  paper  in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette, 
containing  strictures  on  the  delays  of  Congress  respecting  his  affairs,  and 
heavy  accusations  against  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  to  whose  machinations  he  attri- 
buted the  conduct  of  Congress  towards  him.  This  publication  caused  a  ferment 


340  LECTURE    XI 

tion  allured  him  to  France.  Habits  of  intoxication  made  him 
a  disagreeable  inmate  in  the  house  of  the  American  minister, 
where  out  of  compassion  he  had  been  received  as  a  guest. 
During  all  this  time,  his  life  was  a  compound  of  ingratitude 
and  perfidy,  of  hypocrisy  and  avarice,  of  lewdness  and 

throughout  America,  and  very  great  heats  in  Congress.  The  public  papers 
teemed  with  publications  for  and  against  Mr.  Deane  and  Mr.  Lee.  Among 
the  writers  for  the  latter  was  a  Thomas  Paine,  an  Englishman,  who  had  been 
H  hackney  writer  in  London,  and  on  his  arrival  in  America,  was  employed  by 
Aikin  in  compiling  and  correcting  papers  for  his  magazine.  In  this  capacity 
his  attachment  to  the  American  cause  became  suspected.  He  struck  out  several 
passages  in  papers  composed  by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  as  being  too  free.  He 
afterwards  became  attached  to  some  leading  men  who  were  most  zealous  for 
American  Independence.  He  published  a  pamphlet  on  that  subject,  called 
Common  Sense,  and  obtained  much  credit  with  the  people  for  it.  He  was 
afterward  made  Secretary  to  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs ;  and  when 
General  Washington  was  retreating  before  the  enemy  in  Jersey,  and  the 
minds  of  many  were  filled  with  apprehensions,  he  was  again  so  suspected, 
as  that  Congress  became  uneasy  lest  the  Committee's  papers  in  his  custody, 
should  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands,  and  took  their  measures  accordingly.  The 
success  at  Trenton  gave  things  a  new  aspect,  and  new  courage  to  Paine. 

"  On  the  present  occasion,  his  zeal  for  his  employers  carried  him  too  far. 
The  official  papers  had  brought  him  acquainted  with  the  state  of  American 
affairs  at  Versailles ;  and  in  his  paper  of  the  2d  January,  he  very  imprudently 
inserted  the  following  paragraph :  '  If  Mr.  Deane,  or  any  other  gentleman, 
will  procure  an  order  from  Congress  to  inspect  an  account  in  my  office,  or  any 
of  Mr.  Deane's  friends  in  Congress  will  take  the  trouble  of  coming  themselves, 
I  will  give  him  or  them  my  attendance,  and  show  them  in  a  hand  writing 
which  Mr.  Deane  is  well  acquainted  with,  that  the  supplies  he  so  pompously 
plumes  himself  upon,  were  piomised  and,  engaged,  and  that  as  a  present, 
before  he  even  arrived  in  France,'  &c. 

"  The  Minister  of  France,  Mr.  Gerard,  being  aware  of  the  consequences 
which  would  result  from  these  assertions,  and  feeling  veiy  sensibly  how  much 
the  honour  of  France  was  wounded  by  a  supposition  of  her  having  given 
gratuitous  aid  to  America,  contrary  to  her  assurances  to  Britain,  did  on  the 
5th  January,  1779,  present  a  memorial  to  Congress  referring  to  this  publica- 
tion, denying  the  assertions  they  contained,  and  representing  the  propriety  of 
thsir  being  disowned  by  Congress.  The  day  following,  the  memorial  was 
considered,  and  various  debates,  not  proper  to  be  specified  here,  ensued.  Paine 
and  the  printer  were  ordered  to  attend  at  the  bar  of  the  House.  The  former 
confessed  himself  the  author,  and  the  latter  the  publisher,  of  the  paper  in 
question.  Many  motions  were  made,  debated  and  rejected,  before  the  house 
adopted  the  resolutions  which  finally  took  place.  The  subject  was  interesting 
to  tlu  public,  to  the  house,  and  particularly  to  the  friends  of  the  parties  in 


LECTURE  XI.  341 

adultery.  In  June,  1  809,  the  poor  creature  died  in  this  country. 
The  lady  in  whose  house  he  lived  relates  that  "  he  was  daily 
drunk,  and,  in  his  few  moments  of  soberness,  was  always 
quarreling  with  her,  and  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  family." 
At  that  time  "he  was  deliberately  and  disgustingly  filthy." 
He  had  an  old  black  woman  for  his  servant,  as  drunken  as  her 
master.  He  accused  her  of  stealing  his  rum ;  she  retaliated 
by  accusing  him  of  being  an  old  drunkard.  They  would  lie 
on  the  same  floor,  sprawling,  and  swearing,  and  threatening 
to  fight,  but  too  intoxicated  to  engage  in  battle.  He  removed, 
afterwards,  to  various  families,  continuing  his  habits,  and 
paying  for  his  board,  only  when  compelled.  In  his  drunken 
fits,  he  was  accustomed  to  talk  about  the  immortality  of  the 
soul*  Probably  much  of  his  book  against  the  inspiration  of 
the  scriptures  was  inspired  by  his  cups.  Such  was  the  author 
of  "  the  Age  of  Reason  ;"  such  the  apostle  of  mob-infidelity. 
Unhappy  man  !  Neither  he,  nor  Rousseau,  nor  Voltaire,  is 
dead,  except  in  the  flesh.  Their  immortal  souls  are  thinking 
as  actively,  at  least,  as  ever.  We  and  they  will  stand,  on  the 
same  great  day,  before  the  bar  of  God.  How  awful,  in  refer- 
ence to  such  despisers  and  scoffers,  is  that  description :  "Be- 
hold he  cometh  with  clouds ;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  also  which  pierced  him" 

III.  We  proceed  to  speak,  in  the  last  place,  of  the  fruits  of 
Christianity,  as  displayed  in  the  deaths  of  its  genuine  disci- 
ples, in  contrast  with  those  connected  with  infidelity. 

There  is  no  question  to  which  the  testimony  of  the  death- 
bed is  so  legitimately  applicable,  as  that  between  infidelity 
and  Christianity;  not  only  because  the  hour  of  death  is 
specially  to  be  relied  on,  as  an  hour  of  dispassionate  and  con- 
difference,  as  well  as  Mr.  Paine's  patrons;  and,  as  is  always  the  case  on 
such  occasions,  more  warmth  than  prudence  took  place.  The  majority,  how- 
ever, were  of  opinion  that  Paine  had  prostituted  his  office  to  party  purposes, 
and  therefore  ought  to  be  discharged.  This  did  not  long  remain  a  secret  to 
him,  and  to  avoid  that  disgrace  he  resigned." 

P.  S.  Mr.  Jay  was  a  member  of  Congress  at  the  time  of  the  above  occurcnces. 

»  Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine 


342  LECTURE   XI. 

scientious  judgment ;  but,  particularly,  because  it  is  one  of 
the  precious  promises  of  the  gospel,  that  true  believers  shaL 
find  the  sting  of  death  taken  away,  and  experience  rich 
consolation  and  support,  when  heart  and  flesh  are  failing. 
Infidelity,  also,  has  published  her  promises  in  relation  to  the 
trial  of  death ;  and  her  disciples  are  not  a  little  diposed  to 
boast  how  confidently  and  fearlessly  they  could  meet  the 
king  of  terrors.  Let  us  consult  experience  on  this  head. 
Have  Christians  experienced  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  on 
which  they  trusted  1  Have  infidels  made  good  their  boasts  ? 
With  regard  to  Christians,  it  is  a  most  impressive  fact  that 
such  a  thing  has  never  been  known  as  any  one  being 
sorry,  in  the  hour  of  death,  that  he  had  embraced  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  We  have  often  seen  and  heard  of  persons,  who 
had  spent  their  days  in  the  careless  neglect  of  religion,  most 
bitterly  lamenting,  when  they  found  themselves  near  to 
eternity,  that  they  had  not  been  devoted  Christians.  It  is 
invariably  the  case  that  genuine  Christians,  when  they  look 
back  on  their  lives,  from  the  verge  of  the  grave,  are  sorry  that 
all  their  days  had  not  been  spent  in  a  much  more  zealous 
consecration  to  the  service  of  Christ.  Professors  of  religion 
are  not  unfrequently  unhappy  when  they  come  to  die ;  not 
because  they  are,  or  have  been  Christians,  but  only  because 
they  see  reason  to  fear  that  they  have  not  been  real  Christians. 
This  unhappiness  arises  from  the  consciousness  of  being  too 
much  like  those  who  reject  the  gospel ;  too  little  under  the 
influence  of  its  spirit ;  too  much  under  the  influence  of 
a  practical  unbelief.  And  they  seek  consolation,  not  by 
endeavouring  to  banish  the  gospel  from  their  minds,  but 
by  pressing  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  seeking  to  have  their 
hearts  filled  by  his  spirit.  But  among  all  that  ever  named 
Ihe  name  of  Jesus,  from  the  death  of  the  martyred  Stephen, 
to  the  present  hour;  the  millions  upon  millions  of  Christians, 
who  have  died  under  all  manner  of  tortures,  and  in  all  man- 
ner of  circumstances,  calculated  to  try  the  strength  of  their 
faith ;  not  a  philosopher  or  peasant :  not  a  noble  or  a  beggar ; 


LECTURE   XI. 


343 


not  a  man,  woman,  or  child  ;  was  ever  known  to  repent  that 
his  preparation  to  die  was  that  of  the  faith  of  Christ. 

On  the  contraiy,  it  has  been  the  invariable  effect  of  the 
religion  of  Christ  that  those  who,  in  the  days  of  health,  were 
evidently  devoted  to  its  spirit  and  duties,  when  death  ap- 
proached, have  been  enabled  to  await  the  event  with  an  hum- 
ble, submissive,  and  cheerful  mind,  keeping  a  confident  eye 
"  unto  Jesus,"  as  the  Finisher,  as  well  as  Author  of  their 
faith.  They  have  felt  it  to  be  their  most  precious,  their  un- 
speakable consolation  that  they  had  been  persuaded  to  be 
Christians.  Nothing  did  they  look  back  to  with  such  thank- 
fulness, as  that,  instead  of  having  lived  in  indifference  or 
infidelity,  they  had  lived  a  life  of  faith  upon  the  Son  of  God. 
They  have  felt  that  however  solemn  and,  to  the  flesh,  painful, 
was  death,  to  them  it  was  not  gloomy  nor  appalling,  nor  any 
thing  to  be  lamented ;  but  only  a  short  valley  in  the  way  to 
their  everlasting  and  blissful  rest  with  God  on  high.  The 
most  timid  by  nature,  have  stepped  down  without  fear  or 
doubt,  believing  in  Jesus,  and  walking  by  faith.  The  affec- 
tionate parent  has  found  such  an  accession  of  strength,  in 
the  act  of  separation  from  a  beloved  and  helpless  family,  as 
to  be  enabled  cheerfully  to  take  the  last  look,  and  leave  his 
fatherless  children  with  God.  The  young  man,  in  the  prime 
and  promise  of  his  years,  with  every  thing  that  earth  could 
give  to  make  life  desirable,  has  had  the  prospect  of  a  better 
inheritance  presented  to  his  mind  with  such  assurance,  that 
he  had  a  strong  desire  "  to  depart,  and  be  with  Christ."  The 
nearer  Christians  have  come  to  eternity,  and  the  sharper  the 
trial  of  their  faith,  the  nearer  have  they  drawn  to  Chi  ist ; 
the  more  closely  have  they  embraced  his  cross ;  the  more 
necessary  has  seemed  his  death  for  their  sins ;  the  more 
precious  and  full  of  glory  the  whole  plan  of  redemption. 
Such  is  the  'medium  statement  of  the  testimony  furnished  by 
the  death-beds  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  when  disease  01 
the  suddenness  of  departure  has  not  prevented  them  from 
all  testimony  whatever. 


344  LECTURE   XI 

But,  in  innumerable  instances,  the  facts  are  much  more 
positive.  It  is  frequently  the  case  that  dying  Christians,  as 
they  draw  near  to  eternity,  seem  to  catch  the  song  and  share 
the  bliss  of  heaven.  Their  faith  not  only  delivers  them 
from  gloom  and  fear,  but  fills  them  with  joy  and  triumph. 
They  are  not  only  supported,  but  exalted  ;  unspeakably  hap- 
pier in  the  agonies  of  death,  than  ever  they  were  in  the 
vigour  of  health.  As  the  body  sinks,  the  spirit  rises  in 
strength  of  faith  and  confidence  of  approaching  glory.  A 
smile  of  joy  plays  upon  the  djath  struck  countenance.  The 
tenderest  affection,  and  the  most  benevolent  interest  for  all 
around  them;  earnest  prayer  that  sinners  may  come  to 
Jesus,  and  that  his  gospel  may  be  embraced  in  all  the  world, 
occupy  their  latest  moments.  They  die,  thanking  God,  who 
givelh  them  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ. 

This  is  no  picture  of  imagination.  It  is  drawn  from  facts 
which  the  lecturer  has  frequently  had  the  privilege  of  wit- 
nessing ;  facts  such  as  have  been  often  repeated  in  the  obser- 
vation of  all  whose  duty  has  led  them  often  to  visit  and  con 
verse  with  the  dying,  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  facts  of 
which  the  domestic  history  of  the  gospel,  in  all  ages,  is  full, 
and  of  which  no  effrontery  can  attempt  a  denial.  Paul,  in 
the  near  view  of  a  painful  death,  exclaimed :  "  I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  my  course ;  I 
have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth,  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all 
them  also  that  love  his  appearing."*  Polycarp,  when  they 
would  have  nailed  him  to  the  stake,  said :  "  Let  me  remain  as 
I  am ;  for  he  who  giveth  me  strength  to  sustain  the  fire,  will 
enable  me  also,  without  your  securing  me  with  nails,  to  remain 
unmoved  in  the  fire."  Then,  being  bound  for  a  burnt  offering, 
lie  exclaimed :  "  O  Father,  I  bless  thee  that  thou  hast  counted 
me  worthy  of  this  day  and  this  hour  to  receive  my  portion 
*  2  Tim.  iv.  6,  7,  8. 


LECTURE   XI.  345 

in  the  cup  of  Christ."    Bilney,  putting  his  finger  into  the 
flame  of  a  candle,  on  the  night  before  he  was  burned,  repeat- 
ed that  promise  :  "  When  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  it 
shall  not  burn  thee ;"  and  said :  "  I  constantly  believe  that, 
howsoever  the  stubble  of  this  body  shall  be  wasted  by  it,  yet 
my  soul  shall  be  purged  thereby ;  a  pain  for  the  time,  where- 
on, notwithstanding,  followeth  joy  unspeakable."     Hooper, 
going  to  the  stake,  being  addressed  by  a  papist  in  the  lan- 
guage of  condolence,  answered :  "  Be  sorry  for  thyself,  and 
lament  thine  own  wickedness  ;  for  I  am  well,  I  thank  God, 
and  death,  to  me,  for  Christ's  sake,  is  welcome."     Bishop 
Bedell,  apprehending  a  speedy  dissolution,  assembled   his 
family,  and,  with  many  other  words,  declared :  "  Knowing 
that  I  must  shortly  put  off  this  my  tabernacle,  I  know  also 
that  I  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.     Therefore  to  me,  to  live  is  Christ, 
and  to  die  is  gain,  which  increases  my  desire,  even  now,  to 
depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better.     I  ascend  to 
my  Father  and  your  Father,  to  my  God  and  your  God, 
through  the  all-sufficient  merits  of  Jesus   Christ,  my  Re- 
deemer, who    ever    lives    to    make  intercession  for  me." 
Fletcher's  continual  exclamation,  while  dying,  was,  "  God 
is  love!    God  is  love!"     He  panted  for  words  to  express 
what  he  felt  in  the  utterance  of  that  precious  truth.     Finley, 
in  the  act  of  departing,  used  such  language  as  this :  "  A 
Christian's  death  is  the  best  part  of  his  existence."     "  Blessed 
be  God,  eternal  rest  is  at  hand."     "  The  Lord  hath  given  me 
the  victory.     I  exult ;  I  triumph.     Now  I  know  that  it  is 
impossible  that  faith  should  not  triumph  over  earth  and  hell." 
"  Lord  Jesus,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit ;  I  do  it  with 
confidence ;  I  do  it  with  full  assurance.     I  knoio  that  thou 
wilt  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to  thee."*    Said  the 
dying  Payson :  "  While  my  body  is  thus  tortured,  the  soul 
is  perfectly,  perfectly  happy  and  peaceful,  more  than  1  can 

*  See  "  Deaths  of  Hume  and  Finley  Compared,"  by  Dr.  Mason ;  in  the 
Tract.  No.  190.  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 

29 


346  LECTURE   XI. 

possibly  express  to  you.  I  lie  here  and  feel  these  convul- 
sions extending  higher  and  higher,  without  the  least  uneasi- 
ness ;  but  my  soul  is  filled  with  joy  unspeakable.  I  seem  to 
swim  in  a  flood  of  glory,  which  God  pours  down  upon  me. 
And  I  know,  I  know  that  my  happiness  is  but  begun.  I  can- 
not doubt  that  it  will  last  for  ever."  And  what  shall  I  say 
more  ?  For  the  time  would  fail  to  tell  of  Latimer,  and  Rid- 
ley, and  Hooker ;  of  Romaine,  and  Newton,  and  Scott ;  of 
Swartz,  and  Buchanan,  and  Martyn  ;  of  Oberlin  and  Rich- 
mond ;  of  Evarts  and  Cornelius;  leaders  in  the  faith,  "of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  But  should  we  go  into 
the  more  retired  walks  of  Christian  life,  and  consult  the 
annals  of  every  village  church,  and  gather  out  the  examples 
of  holy  patience  in  suffering1,  and  sublime  faith,  and  deep 
humility,  and  joy  unspeakable  in  dying,  which  the  eye  of 
God  has  seen  among  the  poor  of  this  world,  in  every  age, 
since  the  death  of  Christ !  what  a  cloud  of  witnesses  would 
compass  us  about,  uniting  their  joyful  testimony  to  Jesus  as 
"  the  resurrection  and  the  life ;"  to  the  gospel  as  in  all  its 
promises,  faithful  and  "  worthy  of  all  acceptation  !"* 

*  A  beautiful  exhibition  of  the  effects  of  the  gospel  is  found  in  the  Narra- 
tive of  the  Loss  of  the  Kent  East  Indiaman,  in  1825.  The  account  is  given 
by  Major  M'Gregor,  who  was  not  rendered  the  less  capable  of  calmly  observ- 
ing the  events  he  has  recorded,  or  of  firmly  bearing  his  part  in  the  dangers  of 
that  awful  crisis,  in  consequence  of  having  his  soul  kept  in  peace  by  the  pre- 
cious hopes  of  a  disciple  of  Christ. 

While  the  ship  was  burning  below,  and  the  magazine  was  every  moment 
expected  to  blow  up,  and  not  a  soul,  out  of  more  than  six  hundred,  had  a 
thought  but  of  perishing  either  by  fire  or  the  tempest;  while  some  were  stand- 
ing in  silent  resignation,  or  stupid  insensibility,  and  others  were  given  up  to 
the  most  frantic  despair;  while  "some  on  their  knees  were  earnestly  implo- 
ring with  significant  gesticulations,  and  in  noisy  supplications,  the  mercy  of 
Him  whose  arm,  they  exclaimed,  was  at  length  outstretched  to  smite  them ;" 
and  others  had  sullenly  seated  themselves  directly  over  the  magazine,  that  by 
means  of  the  expected  explosion  a  speedier  termination  might  be  put  to  their 
sufferings;  "Several  of  the  soldiers'  wives  and  children,  who  had  fled  for 
temporary  shelter  into  the  after  cabins,  on  the  upper  decks,  were  engaged  in 
prayer,  and  in  reading  the  scriptures  with  the  ladies,  some  of  whom  were  ena- 
bled, with  wonderful  self-possession,  to  offer  to  others  those  spiritual  consola- 


LECTURE    XI.  347 

Now,  let  us  turn  to  infidelity.  What  confirmation  has 
resulted,  from  the  death-beds  of  infidels,  to  the  truth  of  their 
faith,  and  its  ability  to  support  and  comfort  the  souls  of  its 
dying  disciples  ?  Ah !  the  change  is  like  being  translated 
from  the  beauty,  and  fragrance,  and  joyful  promise  of  spring, 
into  the  coldness,  and  barrenness,  arid  gloominess,  of  winter. 

Has  infidelity  ever  •  exhibited  a  solitary  example  of  that 
high  and  delightful  consolation  ;  that  triumphant,  unspeaka- 
ble joy  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  of  which  Christianity  can 
cite  innumerable  instances  ?  It  seems  almost  ridiculous  to 
be  at  pains  enough  to  answer  such  a  question.  Infidelity  has 
no  doctrine,  no  promise,  out  of  which  such  a  delightful  frame 
of  mind  could  grow.  Infidels  feel  themselves  so  infinitely 
removed  from  it,  that  it  seems  to  them,  in  the  distance,  as 
something  incomprehensible,  or  visionary,  or  fanatical.  But 
are  there  not  examples  of  such  persons  dying  without  fear  ? 
Unquestionably  there  are ;  but  how  few  of  them  have  any 
application  to  the  present  argument !  The  great  majority 
of  them  have  been  cases  in  which  the  lethargy  or  delirium 
occasioned  by  disease  prevented  the  patient  from  being  sensi- 
ble of  his  condition  ;  or  his  death  succeeded  so  immediately 
after  the  symptoms  of  his  danger,  as  to  allow  no  time  for  the 
consideration  of  his  eternal  interests ;  or  his  friends  took 
care  that  he  should  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  fatal  cha- 
racter of  his  disorder,  until  it  was  too  late  for  any  thing  but 
insensibility  and  dissolution ;  or  else  the  unhappy  infidel, 

lions,  which  a  firm  and  intelligent  trust  in  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  appeared 
at  this  awful  hour  to  impart  to  their  own  breasts.  The  dignified  deportment 
of  two  young  ladies  in  particular  formed  a  specimen  of  natural  strength  of 
mind,  finely  modified  i>y  Christian  feeling,  that  failed  not  to  attract  the  notice 
and  admiration  of  every  one  who  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  it.  One 
young  gentleman,  having  calmly  asked  my  opinion  of  the  state  of  the  ship,  I 
told  him  that  I  thought  we  should  be  prepared  to  sleep  that  night  in  eternity; 
and  I  shall  never  forget  the  peculiar  fervour  with  which  he  replied,  as  he  press- 
ed my  hand  in  his,  '  My  heart  is  filled  with  the  peace  of  God.'  "  Comment 
would  only  mar  such  a  beautiful  testimony  to  the  blessedness  of  a  gosoel 
faith.  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee  : 
because  he  trusteth  in  thee."  Is.  xxvi.  3. 


348  LECTURE  XI. 

suspicious  of  his  steadfastness  when  the  trial  should  arrive, 
surrounded  himself  with  such  companions  as  would  guard 
his  bedside  from  the  approach  of  any  minister  of  better  con- 
solations, and  keep  his  mind  amused  with  trifles,  and  his 
pride  stimulated  with  the  ambition  of  holding  out  to  the  last. 
Undoubtedly  there  have  been  cases  to  which  none  of  these 
specifications  are  applicable  ;  cases  of  infidels,  who,  in  quiet- 
ness, with  their  intellects  in  sound  and  wakeful  exercise,  and 
with  a  knowledge  of  their  nearness  to  eternity,  have  died 
without  the  manifestation  of  alarm.  But  this  has  nothing  to 
do  with  our  point.  We  could  speak  of  multitudes  who  be- 
lieved Christianity,  and  had  no  idea  that  they  were  prepared 
to  meet  their  God ;  but,  nevertheless,  died  without  alarm. 
The  question  is,  does  infidelity  sustain  and  comfort  its  disci- 
ples in  the  hour  of  death  1  It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to 
assert,  that  whatever  calmness  any  of  them  may  have  mani- 
fested had  no  manner  of  connexion  with  their  infidel  princi- 
ples. They  might  have  had  the  same,  as  well  without 
infidelity,  as  with  it.  They  did  not  pretend  to  draw  strength 
and  peace  from  its  barren  breasts.  "What  was  called,  in  their 
case,  resignation,  was  not  the  offspring  of  their  principles,  as 
infidels,  but  of  their  doom,  as  mortals.  They  had  to  die, 
and  there  was  no  use  in  complaining ;  this  is  about  the 
amount  of  all  their  consolation.  Most  gladly  would  they 
have  entreated  to  live,  could  they  have  supposed  that  entreaty 
would  have  succeeded.  Death  has  never  been  regarded  by 
such  men,  except  as  a  necessary  evil  in  every  respect,  only 
to  be  submitted  to,  because  irrevocably  appointed.  Such  is 
the  very  best  account  we  can  give  of  the  testimony  of  the 
death-beds  of  infidels.  It  is  dreary,  desolate,  cold.  It  whis- 
pers something  that  should  go  to  the  heart  of  a  sceptic.  Its 
dismal  negativeness  is  positive  condemnation.  "Where,  in  al] 
this  region  of  emptiness,  is  the  sweet  serenity,  the  cheerful 
resignation,  the  positive  pleasure  and  happiness  in  prospect 
of  death,  which  so  generally  attend  the  dying  Christian  ? 
Where  is  your  parallel,  in  a  single  infidel,  to  the  joyful  wel- 


LECTURE   XI.  349 

corre  which  death  has  received,  in  a  million  cases,  at  the 
lips  of  the  followers  of  Christ,  when  they  have  felt  themselves 
almost  home,  and,  in  view  of  heaven,  have  longed  to  depart 
and  be  with  Christ  ? 

No  case  of  a  dying  unbeliever  has  been  made  so  much  of, 
by  way  of  a  set-off  to  the  testimony  of  Christians,  as  that  of 
David  Hurne.  The  evident  object  of  Adam  Smith,  the  nar- 
rator, is  to  put  up  his  friend  for  a  comparison  with  believers. 
Gibbon  says  :  "  He  died  the  death  of  a  philosopher."  No 
thing  can  be  more  affected,  more  evidently  contrived  for 
stage  effect ;  or,  even  on  infidel  principles,  more  disgraceful 
to  such  a  mind  as  Hume's,  than  the  manner  of  his  death, 
according  to  the  account  given  by  his  friend.  He  knew  his 
end  was  near.  Whether  he  was  to  be  annihilated,  or  to  be 
for  ever  happy,  or  for  ever  miserable,  was  a  question  involved 
on  his  own  principles,  in  impenetrable  darkness.  It  was  the 
tremendous  question  to  be  then  decided.  Reason  and  decency 
demanded  that  it  should  be  seriously  contemplated.  How 
does  he  await  the  approach  of  eternity  ?  Said  Chesterfield 
(an  infidel  also) :  "  When  one  does  see  death  near,  let  the 
best  or  the  worst  people  say  what  they  please,  it  is  a  serious 
consideration."  Does  Hume  treat  it  as  a  serious  considera- 
tion? He  is  diverting  himself!  With  what?  With  pre- 
paring his  Essay  in  defence  of  Suicide  for  a  new  edition ; 
reading  books  of  amusement ;  and  sometimes  with  a  game 
at  cards !  He  is  diverting  himself  again  !  With  what  next? 
With  talking  silly  stuff  about  Charon  and  his  boat,  and 
the  river  Styx  !  Such  are  a  philosopher's  diversions,  where 
common  sense  teaches  other  people  to  be,  at  least,  grave  and 
thoughtful.  But  why  divert  himself?  Why  turn  off  his 
mind  from  death  ?  Why  the  need  of  his  writings,  and  his 
cards,  and  his  books  of  amusements,  and  his  trifling  conversa- 
tions ?  Was  he  afraid  to  let  his  mind  settle  down  quietly  and 
alone  to  the  contemplation  of  all  that  was  at  stake  in  the 
crisis  before  him  ?  Whatever  the  explanation  of  his  levity, 
it  was  ill-timed,  out  of  taste  badly  got  up  ;  an  affected  piece 


350  LECTURE  XI. 

of  over -acting,  intended  for  posthumous  fame,  to  say  the  best 
of  it.  He  died  "  as  a  fool  dieth."  Take  his  own  views,  as 
thus  expressed,  at  the  end  of  his  Natural  History  of  Reli- 
gion :  "  The  comfortable  views  exhibited  by  the  belief  of 
futurity  are  ravishing  and  delightful.  But  how  quickly 
vanish  on  the  appearance  of  its  terrors,  which  keep  a  more 
firm  and  durable  possession  of  the  human  mind?  The 
whole  is  a  riddle,  an  enigma,  an  inexplicable  mystery. 
Doubt,  uncertainty,  suspense  of  judgment,  appear  the  only 
result  of  our  most  accurate  scrutiny  concerning  this  subject." 
In  his  own  estimation,  then,  futurity  has  its  terrors.  Doubt, 
inexplicable  mystery,  hung  over  his  future  destiny !  Whether 
he  was  not  to  be  a  child  of  hell  for  ever,  his  most  accurate 
scrutiny  could  only  suspend  his  judgment-!  In  this  tremen- 
dous suspense,  he  plays  cards,  as  it  were,  on  his  coffin  lid  ! 
jests  about  ridiculous  fables,  as  he  steps  down  to  the  momen- 
tous uncertainties,  but  eternal  realities,  of  the  future  !  If  a 
finger  had  been  about  to  receive  its  sentence,  whether  to  be 

O  ' 

amputated  or  not,  he  would  at  the  least  have  been  more 
grave.  How  far  such  a  death-bed  scene  is  honourable  to 
philosophy  or  infidelity,  or  fit  to  be  compared  with  that  of 
millions  of  Christians,  I  need  not  say.  But  this  is  the  fairest 
aspect  of  the  matter  on  the  side  of  infidelity.* 

*  There  is  reason  to  believe  that,  however  unconcerned  Hume  may  have 
seemed  in  the  presence  of  his  infidel  friends,  there  were  times  when,  being 
diverted  neither  by  companions,  nor  cards,  nor  his  works,  nor  books  of  amuse- 
ment, but  left  to  himself  and  the  contemplation  of  eternity,  he  was  any  thing 
but  composed  and  satisfied. 

The  following  account  was  published  many  years  ago  in  Edinburgh,  where 
he  died.  It  is  not  known  to  have  been  ever  contradicted.  "  About  the  end  of 
1776,  a  few  months  after  the  historian's  death,  a  respectable  looking  woman, 
dressed  in  black,  came  into  the  Haddington  stage  coach,  while  passing  through 
Edinburgh.  The  conversation  among  the  passengers,  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted for  a  few  minutes,  was  speedily  resumed,  which  the  lady  soon  found  to 
be  regarding  the  state  of  mind  persons  were  in  at  the  prospect  of  death.  An 
appeal  was  made,  in  defence  of  infidelity,  to  the  death  of  Hume,  as  not  only 
happy  and  tranquil,  but  mingled  even  with  gayety  and  humour.  To  this  the 
latiy  said:  'Sir,  this  is  all  you  know  about  it;  I  could  tell  you  another  tale.' 
'Madam,'  replied  the  gentleman,  'I  presume  I  have  as  good  information  us 


LECTURE  XI.  351 

We  said,  the  case  could  not  be  mentioned  of  any  one 
having  regretted,  on  his  death-bed,  that  he  had  lived  a 

you  can  have  on  this  subject,  and  I  believe  that  what  I  have  asserted  regard- 
ing Mr.  Hume  has  never  been  called  in  question."  The  lady  continued :  '  Sir, 
I  was  Mr.  Hume's  housekeeper  for  many  years,  and  was  with  him  in  his 
last  moments ;  and  the  mourning  I  now  wear  was-  a  present  from  his  rela- 
tives for  my  attention  to  him  on  his  death-bed  ;  and  happy  would  I  have  been 
if  I  could  have  borne  my  testimony  to  the  mistaken  opinion  that  has  gone 
abroad  of  his  peaceful  and  composed  end.  I  have,  sir,  never,  till  this  hour, 
opened  my  mouth  on  this  subject ;  but  I  think  it  a  pity  the  world  snould  be 
kept  in  the  dark  on  so  interesting1  a  topic.  It  is  true,  sir,  that  when  Mr. 
Hume's  friends  were  with  him  he  was  cheerful,  and  seemed  quite  uncon- 
cerned about  his  approaching  fate ;  nay,  frequently  spoke  of  it  to  them  in  a 
jocular  and  playful  way ;  but  when  he  was  alone,  the  scene  was  very  differ- 
ent ;  he  was  any  thing  but  composed ;  his  mental  agitation  was  so  great  at 
times  as  to  occasion  his  whole  bed  to  shake.  He  would  not  allow  the  candles 
to  be  put  out  during  the  night,  nor  would  he  be  left  alone  for  a  minute.  I  had 
always  to  ring  the  bell  for  one  of  the  servants  to  be  in  the  room,  before  he 
would  allow  me  to  leave  it.  He  struggled  hard  to  appear  composed,  even 
before  me.  But  to  one  who  attended  his  bedside  for  so  many  days  and  nights, 
and  witnessed  his  disturbed  sleeps  and  still  more  distm-bed  wakings ;  who 
frequently  heard  his  involuntary  breathings  of  remorse  and  frightful  starlings; 
it  was  no  difficult  matter  to  determine  that  all  was  not  right  within.  This  con- 
tinued and  increased  until  he  became  insensible.  I  hope  in  God  I  shall  never 
witness  a  similar  scene.' " — Christian  Observer,  vol.  xxxi.  p.  665. 

There  is  internal  evidence  of  truth  attached  to  the  above.  Hume  had  no 
opinions  with  regard  to  God,  or  the  future,  except  that  all  was  doubtful. 
Whether  there  was  a  God,  a  future  state,  a  hell,  or  annihilation,  he  did  not 
profess  to  know.  The  future  had  its  terrors,  he  acknowledged.  To  him  they 
were  terrors  of  darkness  and  uncertainty.  He  spoke  of  "  the  calm,  though 
obscure  regions  of  philosophy."  He  called  the  whole  question  as  to  man's 
future  destiny,  "  a  riddle,  an  enigma,  an  inexplicable  mystery."  All  he  could 
arrive  at  was,  "  doubt,  uncertainty,  suspense  of  judgment."  In  this  state  of 
mind,  nothing  could  have  been  more  forced  or  unnatural  than  the  levity  de- 
scribed by  Smith.  That  was  his  stage-dress.  If  a  man  lay  a  hundred  pounds 
upon  a  game,  he  is  anxious  till  the  uncertainty  as  to  its  fate  be  removed. 
But  Hume  knew  that  his  ALL,  FOR  EVER,  was  at  stake;  and  that  he  was  uncon- 
cerned, unanxious,  when  not  diverted,  is  incredible.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
account  presented  above  is  exactly  what  nature  and  reason  would  expect  from 
the  state  of  mind  in  which  the  philosopher  described  himself,  as  to  all  that 
awaited  him.  Not  to  be  penetrated  with  anxiety  of  the  most  painful  kind, 
when  a  few  hours  were  to  decide  whether  he  was  to  be  annihilated,  or  to  be 
carried  to  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  and  find  all  that  he  had  ridiculed  in  the 
gospel  true,  and  be  condemned  to  eternal  misery-  a  destiny  which,  on  his 


352  LECTURE    XI. 

Christian.  We  now  say,  that  cases  innumerable  have 
occurred  of  persons  bitterly  lamenting,  when  dying,  that  they 
had  lived  in  infidelity.  Every  where,  such  instances  have 
occurred.  They  are  too  notorious  to  need  citation.  The 
boldest  unbelievers  have  furnished  the  most  numerous 
examples.  They  have  felt  every  foundation  removed,  when 
heart  and  flesh  began  to  fail.  What  they  had  boasted  in 
life,  they  found  a  miserable  comforter  in  death.  The  earl  of 
Rochester,  a  scholar  and  a  blasphemer,  as  deep  in  vice  as  in 
infidelity,  when  he  approached  the  end  of  life,  became  a 
thorough  penitent ;  and,  to  one  of  his  former  companions, 
said  from  his  death-bed :  "  O,  remember  that  you  contemn 
God  no  longer  !  He  is  an  avenging  God,  and  will  visit  you 
for  your  sins ;  and  will,  I  hope,  in  mercy,  touch  your 
conscience,  sooner  or  later,  as  he  has  done  mine.  You  and 
I  have  been  friends  and  sinners  together,  a  great  while. 
We  have  been  all  mistaken  in  our  conceits  and  opinions  ;  our 
persuasions  have  been  false  and  groundless ;  therefore  I  pray 
God  grant  you  repentance."  To  those  who  had  been  drawn 
into  sin,  by  his  example  and  encouragement,  he  said:  "I 
warn  them  no  more  to  make  a  mock  of  sin,  or  contemn  the 
pure  and  excellent  religion  of  my  ever  blessed  Redeemer, 
through  whose  merits  alone,  I,  one  of  the  greatest  of  sinners, 
do  yet  hope  for  mercy  and  forgiveness." 

Hobbes  could  never  bear  to  talk  of  death.  His  mind  was 
haunted  with  tormenting  reflections.  If  his  candle  went 
out  in  the  night,  while  he  was  in  bed,  he  was  in  misery. 
As  he  descended  to  the  grave,  he  said  "  he  was  about  to  take 
a  leap  in  the  dark." 

Struensee,  prime  minister  of  Denmark,  and  Brandt,  the 
companion  of  his  disgrace  and  imprisonment,  had  both  been 
poisoned  by  the  writings  and  society  of  Yoltaire  ;  and  both, 
in  prospect  of  death,  renounced  infidelity  with  detestation, 
and  embraced  the  gospel  as  all  their  hope. 

own  principles,  was  as  likely  as  any  thing  else — could  only  be  accounted  for 
on  the  supposition  that  disease  or  friends  diverted  his  attention  from  the 
decision  approaching. 


LECTURE   XI.  353 

Shall  I  lead  you  to  the  horrible  spectacle  of  Yoltaire,  in 
the  arms  of  death,  and  expecting  in  a  few  moments  to  stand 
at  the  bar  of  God.  He  has  just  returned  from  a  feast  of 
applause  in  the  theatre,  to  be  laid  on  a  bed  of  death,  in  the 
agonies  of  an  upbraiding  conscience.  The  physician  enters. 
"Doctor,"  said  the  apostle  of  infidelity,  with  the  utmost 
consternation,  "I  am  abandoned  by  God  and  man.  I  will 
give  you  half  of  what  I  am  worth,  if  you  will  give  me  six 
months'  life."  The  physician  told  him  he  could  not  live  six 
weeks.  "  Then,"  said  he,  "  I  shall  go  to  hell."  His  com- 
panions in  guilt,  D'Alembert,  Diderot,  and  Marmontel,  hasten 
to  keep  up  his  courage,  but  meet  nothing  but  reproach  and 
horror.  In  spite  of  the  guard  of  infidels  about  him,  he 
sends  for  the  Abbe  Gautier  to  come  as  soon  as  possible.  In 
his  presence,  and  that  of  other  witnesses,  he  signs  a  recanta- 
tion of  infidelity,  and  professes  to  die  in  the  church.  It  is 
sent  to  the  rector  of  St.  Sulpice  and  the  archbishop  of  Paris 
for  approval.  The  Abbe  Gautier  returns  with  it,  but  cannot 
enter.  Every  avenue  to  the  dying  infidel  is  defended  by 
those  who  had  shared  in  his  conspiracy  against  Christianity, 
They  want  to  hide  his  terrors  and  their  own  shame.  Now 
it  is,  that  D'Alembert,  Diderot,  and  about  twenty  others,  of 
like  character,  who  beset  his  apartment,  never  approach 
him  but  to  hear  their  condemnation.  "  Retire  !"  he  often 
exclaims,  with  execrations,  "it  is  you  that  have  brought  me 
to  my  present  state !  Begone  !  I  could  have  done  without 
you  all ;  but  you  could  not  exist  without  me  !  And  what  a 
wretched  glory  have  you  produced  me?"  Then  his  con- 
spiracy comes  before  him,  and,  alternately  supplicating  and 
blaspheming,  he  complains  that  he  is  abandoned  by  God  and 
man,  and  often  cries  out :  "  Oh  Christ !  Oh  Jesus  Christ !"  He 
is  looking1  on  Him  whom  he  pierced!  He  is  drinking  the 
cup  of  trembling  !  the  foretaste  of  the  second  death  !  The 
Mareschal  de  Richelieu  flies  from  the  scene,  declaring  it  "too 
terrible  to  be  sustained."  The  physicians,  thunderstruck,  re- 
tire; declaring  "the  death  of  the  impious  man  to  be  terrible 

45 


354  LECTURE  XI. 

indeed."    One  of  them  pronounces  that "  the  furies  of  Orestes 
could  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  those  of  Voltaire"* 

We  shall  close  these  awful  scenes,  with  a  few  glances  at 
the  dying  Paine.  Once  it  was  his  boast  that,  during  a 
dangerous  illness,  he  thought  with  new  satisfaction  of  having 
written  the  Age  of  Reason,  and  found,  by  experiment,  that 
his  principles  were  sufficient  to  sustain  him  in  expectation  of 
death.  It  was  an  empty  boast !  Let  us  see  him  when 
really  dying.  He  would  not  be  left  alone  night  or  day.  If 
he  could  not  see  that  some  one  was  with  him,  he  would 
scream  till  a  person  appeared.  A  female  attendant  more 
than  once  found  him  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  Having 
asked  her  what  she  thought  of  his  Age  of  Reason,  and 
being  answered  that,  from  a  conviction  of  its  evil  tendency, 
she  had  burnt  it ;  he  wished  all  its  readers  had  been  as  wise, 
and  added :  "  If  ever  the  devil  had  an  agent  on  earth,  I 
have  been  one."  An  infidel  visiter  said  to  him  :  "  You  have 
lived  like  a  man  ;  I  hope  you  will  die  like  one."  He  turned 
to  others  in  the  room,  and  said :  "  You  see  what  miserable 
comforters  I  have."  The  woman  whom  he  had  enticed  from 
her  husband  lamented  to  a  neighbour  her  sad  condition. 
"  For  this  man,"  she  said,  "  I  have  given  up  my  family  and 
friends,  my  property  and  my  religion ;  judge  then  of  my 
distress,  when  he  tells  me  that  the  principles  he  has  taught 
me  will  not  bear  me  out."  Well  might  she  be  distressed, 
when  she  heard  his  exclamations.  "He  would  call  out, 
during  his  paroxysms  of  distress,  without  intermission,  '  O 
Lord  help  me,  God  help  me,  Jesus  Christ  help  me,  O  Lord 

*  "  The  nurse  who  attended  him,  being  many  years  afterwards  requested 
to  wait  on  a  sick  protestant  gentleman,  refused,  till  she  was  assured  he  was 
not  a  philosopher ;  declaring,  if  he  were,  she  would  on  no  account  incur  the 
danger  of  witnessing  such  a  scene  as  she  had  been  compelled  to  do  at  the 
death  of  M.  Voltaire.  I  received  this  account  (adds  the  Right  Rev.  Daniel 
Wilson)  from  the  son  of  the  gentleman,  to  whose  dying  bed  the  woman  was 
invited,  by  a  letter  now  in  my  possession." 

The  above  account  is  abridged  from  the  "  History  of  Jacobinism,"  by  the 
Abbe  Baruel,  and  has  been  denied  by  no  one  of  the  many  witnesses  to  the 
:Jeath  of  Voltaire. 


LECTURE   XI.  355 

help  me,'  &c.,  repeating  the  same  expressions  without  any, 
the  least,  variation,  in  a  tone  of  voice  that  would  alarm  the 
house."* 

And  now  what  need  be  said  in  conclusion  ?  You  have 
seen  the  fruit  of  the  trees.  One  produces  corruption ;  the 
other  holiness  of  life.  One  roots  up ;  the  other  nourishes 
and  cherishes  whatever  is  good  around  it.  The  spread  of 
infidelity  is  that  of  vice,  and  disorder,  and  all  confusion.  The 
spread  of  Christianity  is  that  of  purity,  peace,  and  all  the 
virtues  of  the  social  state.  The  more  thoroughly  an  indi- 
vidual embraces  infidelity,  the  more  entirely  does  he  become 
the  slave  of  sin.  The  more  perfectly  he  embraces  the  gospel, 
the  more  perfectly,  does  he  become  the  example  of  whatever 
is  lovely  and  of  good  report.  No  infidel  ever  rose  higher 
than  the  chill  composure  of  a  Stoic's  firmness,  in  the  trial  of 
death.  Multitudes  and  the  chief  of  infidels  have,  in  that 
honest  hour,  abandoned  their  sentiments  with  horror.  On 
the  other  hand,  no  Christian  ever  regretted,  when  dying, 
that  he  had  believed  the  gospel ;  all  have  only  wished  they 
had  followed  it  more  diligently ;  and,  in  cases  innumerable, 
disciples  of  Christ  have  risen  to  the  most  triumphant  emo- 
tions of  joy  and  praise,  and  the  most  exulting  assurance  of 
eternal  life  and  glory,  in  the  very  act  of  departing  for  eternity. 

Is  a  tree  known  by  its  fruits  ?  Then  which  of  these  is  the 
tree  of  life  ?  Which  looks  like  truth  ?  Which  is  to  be  cut 
down,  and  cast  into  the  everlasting  burning  1 

The  whole  argument,  of  this  and  the  preceding  lecture, 
may  be  well  concluded  with  an  applicable  and  true  saying  of 
Hume.  Being  asked  by  a  friend,  to  whom  he  used  to  refer 
his  essays,  previously  to  publication,  whether  he  thought 
that,  if  his  opinions  were  universally  to  take  place,  mankind 
would  not  be  rendered  more  unhappy  than  they  were ;  and 
whether  he  did  not  suppose  that  the  curb  of  religion  was 
necessary  to  human  nature ;  "  The  objections,"  answered  he, 
(<  are  not  without  weight,  but  ERROR  NEVER  CAN  PRODUCE 
*  Cheetham's  Life  of  Paine. 


356  LECTURE   XI. 

GOOD."  Such  is  precisely  the  text  of  this  and  the  preceding 
lecture.  "  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ?" 
"  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,"  said  the  Saviour.  "  Error 
never  can  produce  good,"  said  the  man  who  denied  him.  By 
this,  let  the  comparative  merits  of  Christianity  and  infidelity 
stand  or  fall. 

How  imperative,  then,  is  the  exhortation  to  all  professors 
of  the  religion  of  Jesus :  "  Let  your  light  shine  before  men  !" 
"  Be  careful  to  maintain  good  works  !"  "  Let  your  con  versa 
tion  be  as  it  becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ !"  To  you,  is 
committed  the  honour;  on  you,  depends  the  character  of 
Christianity  among  the  unbelieving  and  disobedient.  Its  most 
legible  and  universally  imposing  evidences  are  found  in  the 
living  epistles  of  those  who,  under  the  influence  of  its  saving 
truth,  are  seen  devotedly  "following  after  righteousness,  godli- 
ness, faith,  love,  patience,  meekness;"  "using  the  world,  as 
not  abusing  it ;"  looking  for  death,  as  not  fearing  it ;  cheerful 
in  all  duty,  while  they  remain  on  earth ;  happy  when  the 
time  comes  for  them  to  depart  out  of  it  unto  the  Father  ?  Ah ! 
if  all  that  are  numbered  among  Christians  were  thus  radiant 
in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  how  soon  would  the  whole  earth 
be  filled  with  the  praise  of  the  Lord !  Then,  indeed,  would 
the  church  put  on  strength.  Then  would  the  gentiles  come 
to  her  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising ;  all 
they  that  despise  her  should  bow  themselves  down  at  the 
soles  of  her  feet ;  and  they  should  call  her,  "  The  city  of  the 
Lord ;  the  Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel."* 

*  Isaiah,  U. 


LECTURE   XII.  367 


LECTURE    XII. 

SUMMARY   OF   THE   ARGUMENT,    AND   APPLICATION   TO 
OBJECTIONS. 

IN  the  course  of  the  preceding  lectures,  I  have  been  ena- 
bled, by  a  kind  Providence,  blessing  me  with  a  more  ade- 
quate measure  of  health  than  I  anticipated,  to  spread  before 
you  a,  comprehensive  view  of  the  external  evidences  of 
Christianity.  Although  one  whole  division  of  our  forces, 
and  one  of  no  secondary  consequence,  has  not  been  brought 
into  the  field ;  and  of  that  which  has  been  employed,  several 
important  subdivisions  have  been  held  in  the  back  ground 
for  want  of  room  to  display  them  ;  enough,  I  trust,  has  been 
done  to  give  you  an  impressive  idea  of  what  the  strength  of 
the  cause  must  be,  when  all  the  immense  variety  of  auxilia- 
ries composing  its  host  are  arranged  together  under  command 
of  a  mind  capable  of  using  them  to  the  best  advantage.  It 
would  stand  like  the  massive  squares  of  British  infantry  at 
Waterloo,  to  which  the  boasting  enemy  rode  up  again  and 
again,  in  the  full  confidence  of  sweeping  them  before  the 
impetuosity  of  their  charge.  But "  their  onset  and  reception 
was  that  of  a  furious  ocean  pouring  itself  against  a  chain  of 
insulated  rocks."* 

Before  relinquishing  our  course,  it  is  important  to  take  a 
brief  retrospect  of  the  ground  we  have  been  over  ;  that  wo 
may  gather  into  united  and  co-operating  force  the  several 
lines  of  argument  which  as  yet  have  been  employed  only  in 
their  separate  efficiency. 

After  having  divided  the  whole  field  of  evidence  into  the 
two  general  departments  of  external  and  internal,  and  sepa- 
rated the  former,  as  that  to  which  our  course  would  be  con- 
*  Scott's  Napoleon. 

30 


3i>8  LECTURE    XII. 

fined,  we  proceeded  to  lay  the  foundation  of  all  our  subse- 
quent reasonings  by  making  good  the  AUTHENTICITY  OP 

THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,  and  the  CREDIBILITY 

OP  THE  HISTORY  contained  therein.  In  reference  to  the 
question  of  authenticity,  we  instituted  an  inquiry  whether 
there  is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  several  scriptures  com- 
posing the  New  Testament  were  written  by  the  men  whose 
names  they  bear,  the  original  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ7 
For  an  answer  to  this,  we  pursued  precisely  the  same  method 
as  in  determining  the  authenticity  of  any  other  writings.  The 
evidence  required  in  such  investigations  was  shown  to  be  so 
unaffected  by  time,  that  whether  a  book  be  ascribed  to  the 
Christian  era  or  to  five  centuries  earlier  or  later,  a  similar 
description  of  proof  would  possess  a  similar  conclusiveness. 
That  for  the  authenticity  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
was  presented  under  the  following  heads :  They  are  quoted 
or  alluded  to  by  a  series  of  writers  extending,  in  unbroken 
succession,  from  the  present  to  the  apostolic  age.  In  the 
earliest  writers  of  this  series,  as  well  as  the  later,  they  are 
treated  with  peculiar  respect,  as  possessing  an  authority  be- 
longing to  no  other  books,  and  as  conclusive  in  all  questions 
of  religion ;  they  were  collected  at  a  very  early  period  into  a 
distinct  volume ;  were  publicly  read  and  expounded  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  primitive  Christians;  commentaries  were 
written  upon  them ;  harmonies  were  formed  out  of  them ; 
different  copies  were  carefully  compared,  and  versions  were 
made  into  different  languages,  in  the  first  centuries  of  Chris- 
tianity. Hence  it  appeared  that  the  agreement  of  the-ancient 
church,  as  to  what  were  the  authentic  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  was  complete,  and  was  no  more  imperfect  among 
the  various  sects  of  heretics,  than  among  the  orthodox  fathers. 
None  of  these  several  heads  of  evidence  attach  to  any  of  those 
spurious  writings  commonly  called  Apocryphal  Scriptures  • 
while  the  marks  of  the  spuriousness  of  these  can  be  asserted 
with  regard  to  none  of  those  which  are  esteemed  as  authentic. 
I)i  confirmation  of  the  mass  of  testimony,  adduced  in  support 


LECTURE   XII.  359 

of  these  propositions,  we  exhibited  a  most  important  collection 
of  proofs  from  the  writings  of  the  early  adversaries  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  style  and  language  of  the  New  Testament 
were  spoken  of,  as  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  local  and 
other  circumstances  of  its  reputed  writers ;  as  in  perfect  • 
haimony  with  their  known  character,  and  with  the  age  and 
country  in  which  they  lived ;  and  such  as  could  not  have 
been  produced  in  any  age  subsequent  to  theirs.  In  conclu  - 
,sion  of  the  whole  argument,  we  endeavoured  to  show  that 
such  was  the  necessity  of  detection,  in  case  of  a  forgery, 
during  the  primitive  centuries,  that  had  the  books  in  question 
been  deficeient  in  the  evidence  of  apostolic  origin,  nothing 
less  than  a  miracle  in  their  aid  could  account  for  their  early 
und  universal  currency.  The  whole  train  of  evidence  con- 
cluded with  this  result :  that  to  suppose  the  New  Testament 
unauthentic  or  even  questionable  in  this  particular,  is  to 
resign  the  authenticity  of  every  other  book  of  the  least 
antiquity ;  yea,  and  the  sufficiency  of  human  testimony,  in 
its  most  conclusive  form,  to  establish  the  authenticity  of  any 
such  work.  Having  come  to  this,  it  seemed  no  presumption 
to  proceed  in  our  subsequent  lectures,  as  if  the  question  of 
authenticity  were  answered  in  the  affirmative  with  entire 
satisfaction. 

But  in  connexion  with  the  apostolic  origin,  it  was  impor- 
tant to  look  into  the  integrity  of  the  New  Testament  scrip- 
tures ;  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  to  what  extent  they 
have  been  preserved  without  mutilation  or  corruption.  That 
(hey  have  undergone  no  material  alteration  since  they  were 
first  published,  was  inferred  from  the  perfect  impossibility 
of  such  a  change ;  from  obvious  agreement  among  the  exist- 
ing manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament;  and  from  the  har- 
mony of  our  present  text  with  the  numerous  quotations  in  the 
works  of  early  Christian  writers,  as  well  as  with  those  ancient 
translations  which  are  still  extant. 

But  in  laying  the  foundation  of  our  subsequent  argument, 
another  question  remained  :  Is  the  history,  contained  in  these 


360 


LECTURE  XII. 


authentic  writings,  credible  7  In  answer  to  this,  we  assumed 
that  the  credibility  of  the  gospel  history  is  to  be  ascertained 
precisely  like  that  of  any  other  history.  It  appeared  that,  in 
questions  of  this  kind,  the  two  great  points  to  be  proved  are, 
a  competency  of  knowledge,  and  trustworthy  honesty,  on  the 
part  of  the  historian ;  did  he  know  enough  to  write  a  true 
account,  and  was  he  too  honest  to  write  any  other  account 
than  such  as  he  believed  to  be  true  ?  These  points  established, 
the  credibility  of  the  history  is  settled.  The  first  was  easily 
determined  by  the  consideration  that  the  amount  of  know- 
ledge required  for  the  writing  of  the  gospel  history  was  by  no 
means  great ;  that  the  narrative  is  extremely  simple  and  un- 
ambitious ;  and  that  those  who  penned  it  were  personal  com- 
panions of  Christ,  and  eye-witnesses  of  almost  all  they  related. 
In  reference  to  the  second  point  to  be  made  out,  we  took  the 
position  that  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  writers  of 
the  gospel  history  were  too  honest  to  relate  any  thing  but 
what  they  believed  to  be  truth.  Taking  the  history  as  written 
by  St.  John  for  a  specimen,  we  discovered  a  strong  internal 
evidence  of  the  honesty  of  the  writer  in  the  fact  that  it  is  in 
a  high  degree  circumstantial;  and  another,  in  the  incidental 
characteristic  of  the  writer,  that  he  takes  no  pains  to  convince 
us  of  his  honesty,  and  makes  no  parade  about  it,  as  if  it  were 
possible  to  be  suspected ;  and  another,  in  the  circumstance, 
that  while  he  could  not  have  been  ignorant  that  he  was  relat- 
ing many  extraordinary  and  wonderful  events,  he  betrays  no 
appearance  of  wonder  in  himself,  nor  any  expectation  of 
wonder  from  his  readers,  thus  evincing  that  he  was  conscious 
of  narrating  events  of  universal  notoriety.  In  addition  to 
these  striking  imprints  of  honesty ;  we  perceived  another,  in 
the  minute  accuracy  which  distinguishes  all  the  allusions  ot 
this  narrative  to  the  manners,  customs,  opinions,  political 
events,  and  circumstances  of  the  times. 

Having  thus  exhibited  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  honesty 
of  one  of  the  writers  of  the  gospel  narrative ;  we  produced 
Heven  other  writers,  each  entirely  independent  of  the  rest,  and 


LECTURE   XII.  361 

possessing  all  the  internal  marks  of  honesty  discovered  in  St. 
John ;  all  concurring  in  their  statements  so  entirely  that  no 
contradiction  can  be  detected;  and  yet  with  so  much  inci- 
dental variety,  that  the  suspicion  of  a  concerted  scheme  for 
mutual  support  is  as  unreasonable  as  if  they  had  lived  in 
different  centuries.  The  fact  that  they  were  heartily  interested 
in  the  gospel ;  that  they  so  firmly  believed  what  they  wrote, 
as  to  have  lived  in  zealous  devotion  to  Christ,  even  to  the 
sacrifice  of  life,  was  shown  to  be  the  strongest  confirmation, 
instead  of  the  least  abridgement,  of  their  united  testimony. 
In  their  co-operating  evidence,  we  have  a  proof  of  the  honesty 
of  each  writer,  and  of  the  credibility  of  the  whole  body  of 
facts  contained  in  their  pages,  such  as  no  history  of  any 
individual  of  the  world  can  equal.  Four  histories,  written 
by  persons  contemporaneous  with  the  subject,  are  only  found 
in  the  case  before  us.  When  it  is  considered  that  the  au- 
thors were  not  only  contemporaries  but  companions  of  the 
personage  whose  history  is  given ;  their  mutual  support  and 
internal  evidences  of  honesty  afford  a  body  of  proof  which, 
were  their  narratives  untrue,  would  be  morally  impossible. 

Here,  we  might  have  left  the  question  of  credibility.  But 
we  proceeded  to  show,  that  to  suppose  these  writers  to  have 
published  what  they  did  not  believe,  is  to  suppose  that 
they  acted  not  only  without  any  conceivable  motive,  but  in 
direct  opposition  to  all  the  motives  by  which  the  minds  of 
men  are  ever  influenced.  And  finally,  it  was  made  to  appear 
that  the  gospel  history  has  in  its  support,  not  only  all  the  tes 
timony  that  could  fairly  have  been  expected  from  its  enemies 
all  of  them  yielding  at  least  the  evidence  of  silence,  when, 
hud  they  been  able,  they  would  assuredly  have  published  a 
denial ;  but  much  stronger  testimony  than  could  fairly  havo 
been  expected  from  enemies,  since  several  of  their  most  hos- 
tile writers  positively  acknowledge  all  the  facts  that  are 
necessary  to  establish  the  divine  authority  of  Jesus.  But  this 
was  not  our  highest  reach  of  testimony.  We  found  a  great 
cloud  of  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  this  history  in  the  multi- 

30* 


•»04  LECTURE   XII. 

tudes  converted  to  the  gospel  under  the  preaching  of  the 
apostles :  witnesses  who  have  this  peculiar  excellence,  that, 
from  having  once  been  enemies,  they  became  devoted  friends, 
by  the  mere  force  of  their  conviction  of  the  facts  in  question. 
The  whole  argument  for  credibility  was  finished  by  showing, 
from  the  very  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  history,  that 
had  it  not  been  true,  its  currency  for  a  single  year  would  have 
been  quite  as  miraculous,  and  more  unaccountable,  than  any 
thing  related  therein. 

Having  thus  cleared  our  way  to  the  New  Testament,  by 
ascertaining  the  authenticity  of  its  books,  and  the  credibility 
of  its  history;  we  were  prepared  to  open  the  volume,  and 
investigate  its  contents.  It  professes  to  contain  a  revelation 
from  God,  communicated  to  mankind  by  the  Lord  Jesus  and 
his  apostles,  as  invested  with  a  divine  commission  for  this 
very  purpose.  We  asked  for  their  credentials.  They  refer- 
red us  to  their  miraculous  works.  The  appeal  was  confess- 
edly fair.  Miracles  perfectly  proved,  are  perfect  evidence 
of  divine  attestation.  But,  before  proceeding  to  a  direct  in- 
vestigation of  the  testimony  in  favour  of  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel,  we  found  it  necessary,  on  account  of  the  desperate 
efforts  which  enemies  of  Christianity  have  made  to  escape 
this  argument,  to  illustrate  the  following  preliminary  truths  : 
that  there  is  nothing  unreasonable  or  improbable  in  the  idea 
of  a  miracle  in  proof  of  divine  revelation ;  that  the  miracles 
wrought  for  this  purpose,  in  the  first  century,  can  be  rendered 
credible  to  us  of  the  nineteenth,  by  no  other  evidence  than 
that  of  testimony ;  that  such  evidence  is  perfectly  sufficient 
to  prove  a  miracle ;  that  the  testimony  to  the  gospel  miracles 
has  suffered  no  diminution  of  force  by  increase  of  age ;  and 
that  we,  who  are  restricted  to  such  means  of  conviction,  are 
situated  in  regard  to  our  state  of  probation  and  moral  disci- 
pline, more  consistently  than  if  we  had  been  present  when 
the  miracles  were  wrought,  and  could  have  proved  their 
reality  by  the  test  of  our  senses. 

From  these  important  propositions,  we  proceeded  to  the 


LECTURE    XII.  363 

testimony  in  regard  to  THE  MIRACLES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 
Here  we  might  have  stood  upon  the  equitable  assumption 
that,  in  having  established  the  truth  of  the  narratives,  we 
had  proved  also  the  reality  of  the  miracles,  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament ;  inasmuch  as  miraculous  events  are  so  essentially 
interwoven  with  many  of  them,  that  to  question  the  latter, 
is  necessarily  an  impeachment  of  the  former.  But  as  our 
object  was  not  merely  proof,  but  variety  and  fulness  of  proof, 
we  proceeded  to  the  fact  that,  the  religion  of  the  Bible  having 
been  established  by  direct  appeal  to  miracle,  in  evidence  of 
the  divine  authority  of  its  teachers,  stands  alone  in  this  res- 
pect among  the  various  religions  of  mankind ;  after  which, 
we  laid  out  the  materials  of  our  argument  under  the  follow- 
ing propositions.  Supposing  the  wonderful  works  ascribed 
to  our  Lord  to  have  really  occurred,  they  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  second  causes,  but  must  have  been  genuine  miracles. 
They  were  of  such  a  nature  as  admitted  of  their  being 
brought  at  once  to  the  test  of  the  senses.  They  were  per- 
formed, for  the  most  part,  in  the  most  public  manner.  They 
were  exceedingly  numerous,  and  of  great  variety.  The 
success,  in  every  case,  was  instantaneous  and  complete. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  such  a  thing,  as  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  Christ  or  his  apostles  to  perform  a  miracle  in  which 
they  were  accused  of  a  failure.  For  seventy  years,  the 
miraculous  gifts  in  question  continued  to  be  exercised,  and 
to  be  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  mankind.  During  all 
this  time,  it  is  a  matter  of  certainty  that  they  underwent  the 
most  rigid  examination  from  those  who  had  every  opportu 
nity  and  every  disposition  to  detect  imposition.  Every 
advantage  was  afforded  the  adversary  by  their  being  pub- 
lished and  appealed  to  immediately  after,  and  in  the  very 
places  where,  they  occurred.  The  persons  who  performed 
them  were  of  all  others  the  least  qualified,  and  the  least  likely 
either  to  attempt  a  series  of  counterfeit  miracles,  or  to  suc- 
ceed in  passing  them  upon  the  Jewish  and  heathen  world. 
Notwithstanding:  all  that  was  done  to  break  the  constancy 


364  LECTURE   XII. 

and  extort  the  confessions  of  those  early  Christians  who 
were  eye-witnesses  of  the  deeds  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles  ; 
none  were  ever  known  to  acknowledge  they  had  been 
deceived,  or  had  found  any  thing  but  truth  in  the  miracles 
by  which  they  were  led  to  embrace  the  gospel.  The  benevo- 
lent character  and  holy  eifects  of  the  miracles;  the  humble, 
self-denying,  unambitious  spirit  of  those  who  performed 
them,  are  irreconcilable  with  the  supposition  of  any  thing 
selfish  or  deceitful.  That  they  were  genuine,  and  to  the 
people  of  that  century  undeniable,  we  have  the  plainest  and 
strongest  confession  from  the  primitive  adversaries  of  Christ 
and  his  cause.  But  confessions  stronger,  unspeakably,  are 
found  in  the  history  of  great  multitudes  in  Judea,  and  every 
country  of  heathenism,  who  beheld  in  the  miracles  such 
incontrovertible  certainty  as  induced  them  to  lay  aside  the 
bitterest  enmity  to  the  gospel,  and  make  the  most  painful 
sacrifices  of  which  human  nature  is  capable,  for  the  sake  of 
embracing  the  service  of  Jesus.  If  with  all  this  evidence, 
there  is  not  reason  to  rely  implicitly  upon  the  reality  of  the 
gospel  miracles,  we  are  driven  to  believe  in  the  most  unac- 
countable violations  of  the  laws  of  nature,  of  truth,  and  of 
common  sense,  as  necessary  to  account  for  the  singular  events 
connected  with  their  performance,  and  for  their  universal 
acknowledgment  in  the  era  of  their  first  publication.  Hence 
it  was  concluded  that  the  credentials  of  Jesus  and  his  apos- 
tles were  given  from  heaven;  and,  consequently,  that  the 
New  Testament,  as  an  authentic  record  of  what  they  deli- 
vered, is  the  book  of  the  revelation  of  God. 

Here,  with  perfect  safety,  might  the  cause  have  been  con 
sidered  as  determined.  But,  unwilling  to  content  ourselves 
with  once  establishing  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel,  the 
argument  was  commenced  anew,  substituting  PROPHECY  for 
MIRACLE,  as  the  source  of  evidence.  Considerations  were 
stated  which  render  the  argument  from  prophecy  specially 
valuable  :  such  as  the  continual  increase  of  its  strength,  and 
the  important  characteristic  of  many  predictions,  that  their 


LECTURE  XII.  365 

fulfilment,  being  a  matter  of  present  existence,  is  evidence 
before  our  eyes — addressed  to  our  senses.  Before  proceeding 
to  the  proof  of  fulfilment,  the  fact  that  all  other  religions 
have  shrunk  from  attempting  such  dangerous  ground  as  the 
publication  of  prophecy,  and  yet  that,  however  certain  of 
exposure  in  case  of  imposition,  it  is  every  where  appealed  to 
and  rested  upon,  in  the  Bible,  was  treated  as  a  strong 
presumptive  argument  that  in  the  Bible  is  found  what  no 
false  religion  can  possess — something  to  warrant  it  in  ven- 
turing where  divine  omniscience  alone  is  able  to  tread — 
inspiration  of  God.  We  then  glanced  at  the  immense 
extent,  and  vast  embrace,  and  wonderful  minuteness,  which 
characterize  the  scheme  of  scripture  prophecy ;  the  many 
ages  included ;  the  variety  of  agents  employed ;  the  numerous 
particulars  predicted ;  and  the  harmony  of  all  the  details. 
The  undeniable  fact  was  asserted,  that  between  the  least 
prediction  of  the  Bible,  and  any  event  of  history,  there  is  not 
the  smallest  evidence  of  contradiction.  We  then  demanded 
whether  it  were  credible  that  imposture  would  ever  have 
dared  to  commit  its  cause  to  a  venture  which  could  terminate 
successfully  only  by  such  a  hopeless  series  of  miraculous 
coincidences. 

With  all  this  presumptive  evidence  on  our  side,  we  too* 
up  a  brief  selection  of  important  prophecies,  and  showed 
their  minute  and  wonderful  fulfilment,  from  sources  of 
testimony  to  which  there  could  be  no  exception.  Your 
attention  was  specially  directed  to  a  great  variety  of  predic- 
tions, by  different  writers,  and  in  all  ages  of  bible  history,  all 
centering  in  Jesus,  and  determining  the  time  and  circum- 
stances of  his  advent ;  the  character  of  his  life ;  the  particulars 
of  his  sufferings  and  death  ;  foretelling-his  resurrection,  and 
the  increase  of  his  kingdom.  After  having  thus  showed  the 
fulfilment  of  prophecies,  of  which  Jesus  was  the  subject  ; 
we  proceeded  to  others,  of  which  Jesus  was  the  author. 

In  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  its  subsequent  history, 
we  had,  prepared  to  our  hands  by  the  writings  of  unbelievers, 


366 


LECTURE    XII. 


a  most  impressive  accomplishment  of  a  series  of  predictions 
on  the  part  of  our  Lord,  in  which  the  utmost  plainness  of 
meaning  is  united  with  singular  minuteness  of  detail.  The 
agreement  between  the  predictions  and  the  events  admitted 
of  no  denial.  The  supposition  of  chance  was  the  only 
explanation  to  which  unbelief  could  flee.  But  it  was  stated, 
on  the  authority  of  strict  arithmetical  calculation,  that, 
according  to  the  principles  employed  in  the  computation  of 
what  are  called  chances,  the  probability  against  the  occurrence, 
at  the  predicted  time,  of  all  the  particulars  embraced  in  the 
prophecies  of  which  we  had  spoken,  exceeded  the  power  of 
numbers  to  express ;  even  without  the  consideration  of  the 
providence  of  One  who  hateth  iniquity,  and  especially  when 
i  t  is  practised  under  pretence  of  his  authority.  The  conclusion 
was  inevitable  :  that  the  Bible,  in  thus  containing  so  many 
genuine  prophecies,  scattered  through  its  several  books, 
contains  revelation  from  God,  and  exhibits  satisfactory  evi- 
dences of  divine  authority ;  and  that  Jesus  Christ,  being  in 
his  character  and  office,  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  the  great 
theme  of  this  system  of  prophecy,  and  being  himself  endued 
with  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  was,  and  is  to  come,  no  other 
than  what  he  claimed  to  be  considered,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
.  redeemer  of  men,  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords. 

Here  again,  we  might  have  rested  our  cause.  But  unwil- 
ling  to  withhold  the  interesting  evidence  remaining;  we 
commenced  the  main  question  anew,  and  set  out  to  prove  the 
divine  original,  from  the  history  of  THE  PROPAGATION  o* 
CHRISTIANITY.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  extensive 
progress  were  manifest  from  considering  that  the  enterprise 
of  propagating  a  new  religion,  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other,  was  perfectly  novel,  and  universally  offensive ;  that 
the  whole  character  of  the  gospel,  as  a  system  of  doctrine 
and  a  rule  of  life,  erected  a  barrier  against  its  progress 
which,  to  human  force,  would  have  proved  insurmountable ; 
that  it  necessarily  arrayed  against  itself  all  the  influence  of 
every  priesthaod  ;  all  the  powers  of  every  government ;  all 


LECTURE   XII.  367 

the  prejudices,  habits,  and  passions  of  every  peopk ;  and  all 
the  pride,  wit,  and  influence  of  every  school  of  philolophy 
'.n  the  world.  Add  to  this,  that  the  character  of  the  age  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  increase  the  difficulties  above  mentioned, 
ind  to  put  the  truth  of  such  a  religion  as  that  of  the  gospel 
to  the  very  closest  and  strongest  trial.  The  agents  intrusted 
with  the  propagation  of  Christianity  were  of  all  others  most 
unfitted  for  their  work,  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  one  of 
imposture.  They  set  up  their  banner  when  every  thing  visible 
on  their  side  only  tended  to  inspire  them  with  despair,  and 
every  thing  on  the  side  of  their  enemies  was  considered  as 
triumphant.  The  mode  they  adopted  was  directly  calculated, 
on  human  principles,  to  increase  and  multiply  all  their 
difficulties.  They  were  encountered  every  where  by  the 
fiercest  persecution  that  the  malignant  ingenuity  of  enemies 
could  invent,  and  the  principalities  and  powers  of  the  earth 
could  execute.  In  spite  of  all  these  enormous  combinations 
of  resistance,  such  was  the  rapid  and  mighty  progress  of 
the  gospel,  that,  in  thirty  years,  the  Roman  empire  was  every 
where  pervaded  with  its  influence,  and  even  haughty 
Rome  could  yield  a  great  multitude,  as  her  first  fruits,  for 
the  fires  of  persecution.  The  conversions,  which  ensued  in 
such  numbers,  were  not  changes  merely  of  opinion,  but  of 
heart  and  life ;  they  involved  individuals  of  all  classes  of 
mind,  of  learning,  of  rank,  and  of  opulence.  Nothing  in 
any  degree  corresponding  to  this  work  had  ever  been  known 
before,  or  has  ever  been  witnessed  since ;  even  though 
efforts  have  frequently  been  made,  in  circumstances  and 
with  means,  on  the  supposition  that  the  apostles  were  not 
specially  favoured  of  God,  much  more  advantageous  than 
theirs.  All  these  particulars  combined,  demonstrate  that  in 
the  labours  of  the  apostles,  none  but  "  God  gave  the  increase" 
because  none  but  God  could  give  such  increase.  They 
present  a  miracle  as  unquestionable,  as  if,  at  the  bidding  of 
man,  a.  rock  should  become  a  fountain  of  water. 

Thus,  a  third  time,  did  we  finish  our  proof.    Here,  again, 


368  LECTURE  XII. 

might  the  argument  have  been  safely  terminated.  But  the 
FRUITS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  presented  a  source  of  additional 
evidence,  too  important  to  be  omitted.  We  began,  in  this 
department,  with  THE  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  ON 
SOCIETY  IN-  GENERAL.  We  surveyed  the  moral  condition 
of  mankind  when  the  gospel  era  commenced.  The  most 
polished,  literary,  and  admired  nations  of  the  ancient  world 
were  selected  as,  at  least,  favourable  specimens  of  all  others. 
Their  personal,  domestic,  and  social  virtues  were  placed  in 
comparison  with  those  of  civilized  nations  of  the  present  age, 
and  especially  with  those  which  Christian  influence  has  most 
thoroughly  pervaded.  The  contrast  was  exceedingly  im- 
pressive. The  moral  improvements  effected  in  society  have 
been  immense  and  inestimable.  We  found  nothing  in  the 
philosophy,  or  the  religion,  or  the  fluctuations,  or  any  other 
ingredient  of  the  heathen  or  infidel  world,  to  effect  such  a 
change.  No  heathen  nation,  left  to  itself,  has  ever  reformed. 
The  history  of  the  world  demonstrates  that  the  whole  work 
must  be  charged  to  Christianity.  The  history  of  Christian 
effort,  among  heathen  nations  of  the  present  age,  demonstrates 
that  she  was  capable,  and  ever  will  be  capable,  of  accomplish- 
ing such  blessed  results. 

From  the  fruits  of  Christianity  on  society  in  general,  we 
turn  to  those  exhibited  in  the  character  and  happiness  of  her 
genuine  disciples.  Undeniable  and  innumerable  transforma- 
tions, in  moral  character  and  habits,  were  pointed  out, 
which  are  utterly  incapable  of  explanation,  but  on  the 
supposition  of  a  divine  power  accompanying  the  gospel. 
A  comparison  was  drawn  between  the  lives  of  genuine  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  and  those  for  which  unbelievers  are  notori- 
ous. Another  was  instituted  between  the  death-bed  scenes 
and  testimonies  of  real  Christians,  and  such  as  have  been 
witnessed  in  connexion  with  infidelity.  It  appeared  that, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  individuals  are  the  slaves  of  sin,  in 
proportion  as  they  become  devoted  to  infidelity  ;  while  it  was 
equally  evident  that,  without  any  exception,  they  become 


LECTURE    XII.  369 

servants  of  righteousness,  in  proportion  as  their  hearts  are 
surrendered  to  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  It  appeared  that 
while,  on  the  one  hand,  no  unbeliever  ever  advanced  beyond 
the  negative  and  comfortless  composure  of  a  Stoic,  under  the 
trial  of  death,  and  multitudes,  and  the  very  chief  of  tneir 
profession,  ha\e,  in  that  hour,  abandoned  their  sentiments 
with  horror ;  it  was  never  heard,  on  the  other  hand,  that  a 
Christian  regretted,  in  his  death,  having  believed  and  obeyed 
the  gospel ;  while  innumerable  disciples  of  that  blessed  faith, 
in  the  very  act  of  dissolution,  have  risen  to  the  most  triumph- 
ant assurance  of  eternal  life  and  glory.  Such  are  the  legiti- 
mate fruits  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

On  the  wise  principle,  therefore,  that  "  a  corrupt  tree  cannot 
bring  forth  good  fruit,"  we  must  pronounce  Christianity  good ; 
and  since  no  religion  can  be  good  without  being  true,  or  as 
Hume  expressed  it :  "  error  never  can  produce  good"  we  must 
conclude  that  her  assertion  of  divine  authority  is  worthy  of  all 
acceptation.  Thus  terminated  the  argument  of  the  last  lecture. 

And  now,  while  the  retrospect,  we  have  been  taking^  is 
fresh  in  your  memories,  consider : 

1st.  The  plainness  and  simplicity  which  characterize  the 
evidences  of  Christianity.  To  understand  the  meaning,  and 
appreciate  the  force,  of  any  or  all  of  them,  so  far  as  is  necessary 
to  a  clear,  intelligent,  and  impressive  conviction  of  the  divine 
inspiration  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  divine  nature  and  mis- 
sion of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  work  to  which  the  mind 
of  any  thoughtful  individual  of  ordinary  information  is  compe- 
tent. Willingness  to  read,  readiness  to  learn,  humility  to 
submit  to  conviction,  and  an  ordinary  knowledge  of  the 
meaning  of  words,  are  the  only  requisites  for  a  satisfactory 
investigation  of  the  whole  argument.  How  different,  in  this 
respect,  is  the  system  of  Christ,  from  all  the  speculating  and 
metaphysical  systems  of  infidel  philosophy !  What  would 
plain  common  sense  people  do,  did  their  understanding  of  the 
grounds  of  faith  and  duty  depend  upon  such  dark  questions, 

as  the  sufficiency  of  the.  light  of  nature,  the  origin  of  evil,  the 

ol 


370  LECTURE    XII. 

metaphysical  relations  of  cause  and  effect,  the  foundation  of 
virtue,  the  elements  of  accountability,  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
&c. ;  questions  which  must  be  settled  in  our  own  minds,  and 
by  our  own  reason,  before  we  can  consistently  embrace  any 
other  religion  than  that  of  revelation ;  but  about  which  ali 
the  philosophy  on  earth,  if  it  reject  the  scriptures,  may  specu- 
late to  the  end  of  time,  without  arriving  at  sufficient  certainty 
to  satisfy  a  single  conscience.  The  gospel  requires  no  abstract 
theories  to  explain  its  way  of  salvation,  its  principles  of 
obligation,  or  its  rule  of  duty.  It  simply  presents  the  evi- 
dence that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  and  the  Sent  of  God,  came 
into  the  world  to  teach  and  to  save  sinners;  and  then,  to 
every -sinner,  .publishes  this  plain  direction:  Wliat  Jesus  in 
his  word  has  taught,  believe;  what  he  has  there  commanded, 
follow;  and,  through  his  righteousness,  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

2d.  Consider  the  great  variety  and  accumulation  of  the 
evidences  of  Christianity.  In  the  lectures  to  which  you  have 
listened,  were  presented  no  less  than  four  independent  and 
complete  methods  of  proof,  each  of  which  is  amply  sufficient 
to  bear  the  whole  weight  of  the  gospel.  The  argument  from 
miracles  is  conclusive  without  the  argument  from  prophecy. 
The  latter  is  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  the  former,  or  any 
that  succeeded  it.  The  argument  from  the  propagation  is 
complete  in  itself,  as  well  as  that  from  the  fruits  of  Christian- 
ity. But  under  each  of  these  general  heads,  what  a  bound- 
less variety  of  auxiliary  evidences  might  have  been  adduced  ! 
Every  single  miracle  ;  every  fulfilled  prophecy ;  a  thousand 
separate  facts  in  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  innumerable 
examples  of  its  holy  fruits  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  believers, 
would  have  furnished  us  with  so  many  effulgent  centres, 
from  all  of  which  rays  of  brilliant  evidence  are  continually 
meeting  and  harmonizing  in  a  shining  testimony  to  Jesus,  as 
the  resurrection  and  the  life. 

But  remember  that  one  whole  division,  out  of  the  two 
which  embrace  the  field  of  evidence,  has  been  left  untouched. 
We  have  found  an  astonishing  variety  and  accumulation  of 


LECTURE   XII.  371 

proof;  and  yet  the  whole  department  of  INTERNAL  EVI- 
DENCE, that  which  arises  from  the  search  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment itself — its  spirit,  manner,  dress,  and  beauty — the  sim- 
plicity of  its  character ;  the  benevolence  of  its  temper ;  its 
power  over  the  conscience ;  the  suitableness  of  its  contents 
to  the  wants  of  man ;  the  excellence  of  its  doctrines ;  the 
purity  and  elevation  of  its  morals  ;  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  Jesus,  and  the  happy  tendency  of  all  his  instructions : 
— this  immense  field  of  diversified  evidence,  secondary  to 
none  in  its  influence  upon  the  mind,  and  superior  to  all  in 
its  direct  appeal  to  the  heart,  we  have  not  so  much  as  en- 
tered. Could  we  but  see  all  the  separate  streams  united  in 
one ;  could  we  measure  at  once  the  force  of  that  majestic 
tide  which  collects  its  innumerable  tributaries  from  all  ages, 
and  all  nations,  and  all  hearts ;  could  we  appreciate  its 
strength  by  an  accurate  estimate  of  all  the  obstructions  with 
which  earth  and  hell,  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air," 
and  "  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,"  have  endea- 
voured to  resist  its  course — the  mountains  of  difficulty  which, 
in  every  century,  it  has  rent  asunder,  or  rolled  away  to  clear 
its  course ;  we  should  wonder,  indeed,  at  what  Divine  Good- 
ness has  done  to  make  us  believers,  and  at"  what  human 
obduracy  has  been  able  to  withstand  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tinuing in  unbelief. 

But  this  astonishing  flood  of  evidence  is  perpetually  in- 
creasing. Every  additional  benefit  which  Christianity  bestows 
apon  any  portion  of  mankind ;  every  additional  conversion 
of  a  sinner  to  God  ;  every  holy  life  that  is  added  to  the 
shining  ranks  of  the  followers  of  Christ ;  every  new  triumph 
of  Christian  faith  over  the  trials  of  life  and  the  terrors  of 
death  ;  every  increase  in  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy ;  every 
advance  in  the  conquest  of  the  gospel  over  the  darkness  of 
paganism ;  every  new  year  of  victory  over  all  the  resistance 
of  pretended  friends  and  unfaithful  professors,  of  internal 
divisions,  and  infidel  enmity,  is  a  new  stream  to  swell  the 
many  waters,  which  one  day,  like  the  deluge  of  old,  will 


372  LECTURE   XII. 

drown  unbelief  in  its  last  refuge,  and  make  all  nations  and 
kindreds  know  how  precious,  as  an  ark  of  safety,  is  He  who 
"  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners." 

But  who  can  ask  for  additional  evidence?  Did  not  the 
question  affect  the  darling  idols  of  the  heart ;  were  it  one  of 
property,  or  of  science,  or  of  human  life  ;  were  it  some  new 
medicine,  to  heal  the  maladies  of  the  body,  that  laid  before 
us  this  immense  mass  of  credentials  from  all  generations ;  or 
were  it  a  scheme  for  the  acquisition  of  earthly  gain  that  came 
to  us  accompanied  with  such  voluminous  evidence  of  its 
unfailing  truth  and  wisdom;  no  man  of  common  sense  could 
hesitate  a  moment  to  give  it  his  unqualified  belief.  All  men 
are  continually  committing  their  dearest  interests  to  evidence 
unspeakably  inferior.  We  intrust  our  lives  to  the  care  of 
physicians,  of  whose  skill,  and  wisdom,  and  carefulness,  and 
honesty,  we  have  no  assurance  comparable  to  our  proof  of 
Jesus,  as  the  only  Physician  to  save  our  souls,  and  as  that 
all-sufficient  One,  in  whose  hands  none  can  perish.  We 
believe,  without  a  question,  in  all  the  great  events  of  history ; 
and  yet  their  evidence  is  so  inconsiderable  in  comparison 
with  the  proof  of  the  gospel,  that  if  you  take  away,  as  unes- 
tablished,  the  great  pillars  of  the  argument  of  Christianity, 
you  pronounce  the  whole  foundation  of  historical  know- 
ledge, unestablished ;  yea,  you  rob  mankind  of  the  whole 
fruit  of  human  testimony,  and  write  terra  incognita  over 
almost  the  whole  map  of  the  generations  and  things  of  the 
universe. 

III.  How  impressive  to  the  mind  of  every  human  being, 
should  the  evidence  of  Christianity  appear.  If  he  take  up 
any  system  of  faith  which  men  have  ever  attempted  to  sub- 
stitute for  the  gospel,  and  compare  its  evidences,  how  imme- 
diately is  it  confounded  by  the  contrast.  If  he  attempt  to  set 
aside  any  one  of  the  great  proofs  on  which  the  noble  fabric 
of  Christianity  is  supported,  how  immediately  are  his  efforts 
defeated,  and  his  weapons  broken  ?  He  may  invent  difficul- 
ties, but  the  arguments  of  the  gospel  he  cannot  answer. 


LECTURE   XII.  373 

What,  then,  is  the  condition  of  the  inquirer  ?  The  religion 
of  Christ,  thus  solemnly  and  impressively  attested,  declares 
him  a  sinner  before  a  just  and  holy  God ;  condemned,  under 
sentence  of  the  divine  law,  to  eternal  retribution  and  wo.  It 
tells  him,  that  except  he  repent,  he  must  perish  ;  except  he 
believe  in  and  follow  Jesus,  as  his  Master  and  only  Hope,  he 
cannot  be  delivered  from  condemnation.  It  declares,  on  the 
other  hand.,  that  if  he  repent  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  he  shall  be  saved  ;  the  sting  of  death  will  be  taken 
away ;  an  inheritance  will  be  given  him  "  that  is  incorrupti- 
ble, and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  All  this  comes 
to  him  under  the  sanction  of  evidences  innumerable ;  for 
none  of  which  is  he  provided  with  an  answer.  History 
informs  him  that  the  best  and  wisest  men  of  all  ages  have 
considered  those  evidences  incontrovertible.  Immense  mul- 
titudes assure  him,  that  in  embracing  the  gospel  they  have 
experienced  the  truth  of  its  promises,  and  realized  the  holy 
and  happy  influence  of  its  doctrines.  The  probability,  to 
say  the  very  least,  must  seem  immense,  even  to  a  sceptic,  that 
should  he  reject  Christianity,  he  would  reject  the  truth  of 
God,  and  incur  eternal  ruin.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
certainty  is  evident,  that  should  he  embrace  it,  not  only  would 
he  suffer  no  loss  in  case  it  should  prove  untrue,  but  he  would 
gain  many  precious  consolations  in  this  life,  of  which  infi- 
delity is  entirely  barren.  In  these  circumstances,  how  serious 
is  the  crisis,  when  he  is  making  the  choice  whether  to  be  an 
infidel  or  a  Christian  !  Does  he  decide  for  infidelity  1  He 
can  gain  nothing  ;  he  certainly  loses  much  ;  and  if  the  gos- 
pel be  true,  he  loses  all  for  ever.  Does  he  decide  for  Chris- 
tianity ?  He  can  lose  nothing ;  he  certainly  gains  a  great 
deal ;  and  if  infidelity  prove  to  be  true,  he  has  nothing  to 
regret  but  that  truth  and  happiness  should  be  so  directly 
at  war. 

Then  what  a  step  does  he  take,  who,  notwithstanding  all 
the  evidences  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  determines  upon  its 
denial  ?  What  solemnity  and  carefulness  of  investigation : 


374  LECTURE    XII. 

what  candour  and  impartiality  of  judgment ;  what  jealousy 
over  one's  own  inclinations  and  prejudices ;  what  long  and 
patient  consideration  ;  what  earnest  prayer  for  divine  guid- 
ance and  help,  should  precede  such  a  decision  !  One  would 
suppose  that  at  least  the  maturest  knowledge,  and  the  coolest 
temperament,  and  the  most  sober  hours,  would  be  waited  for, 
before  coming  to  a  point  on  which  such  tremendous  conse- 
quences are  suspended.  What,  then,  is  our  amazement  to  see 
the  stupid  ignorance,  or  the  senseless  levity,  or  the  lazy 
thoughtlessness,  or  the  intemperate  enmity,  with  which  this 
momentous  decision  is  almost  always  made !  How  many 
become  infidels,  not  only  without  candid  investigation,  but 
without  any  serious  thinking;  without  so  much  as  an  inquiry; 
without  even  a  decent  sobriety  of  mind !  To  such  persons, 
I  know  not  a  more  alarming  occupation  than  that  of  read- 
ing a  well  ordered  exhibition  of  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Have  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion  been  ever 
answered?  Infidels  have  attacked  Christianity.  But  any 
thing  may  be  attacked.  They  have  slandered  her  doctrines ; 
ridiculed  her  word ;  reviled  her  precepts ;  hated  her  holiness, 
and  influenced  many  to  go  and  do  likewise:  but  neither 
hatred,  nor  reviling,  nor  ridicule,  nor  slander,  is  the  test  of 
truth.  Have  infidels  ever  resorted  to  the  one  only  fair  and 
honest  mode  of  meeting,  face  to  face,  the  whole  array  of 
testimony  which  Christianity  advances,  and  endeavouring 
cooly  to  prove,  as  a  matter  of  historical  evidence,  that  the 
authenticity  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  credibility  of 
its  history,  are  not  sustained ;  that  the  miracles  of  Jesus 
have  not  been  supported  with  adequate  testimony  ;  that  the 
prophecies  of  the  scriptures  have  met  their  attestation  in  no 
accurate  histories ;  that  Christianity  was  propagated  by 
human  force  alone,  and  its  fruits  are  those  of  a  corrupt  and 
deceitful  tree  ?  1  answer,  no.  There  is  no  such  effort  in  the 
lx)oks  of  infidelity.  I  read  of  speculations,  opposed  to  our 
facts,  insinuations,  in  answer  to  our  testimonies;  sneers,  in 


LECTURE    XII.  375 

reply  toour  solemn  reasonings ;  assertions,  where  wedemanded 
arguments ;  levity  and  presumption,  where  an  advocate  of  truth 
would  have  been  serious  and  humble.  But  I  know  of  no  such 
thing,  as  a  book  of  infidelity  in  any  sense  corresponding  in  the 
n  alure,  or  grounds,  or  spirit  of  its  reasoning,  with  such  arguments 
for  Christianity  as  those  of  Paley,  or  Lardner,  or  Gregory,  or 
Wilson,  and  a  thousand  others,  to  which  no  man  ever  dared 
to  attempt  an  answer.  Infidelity,  like  an  insect  on  the  pillar 
of  some  stupendous  temple,  that  can  see  no  further  than  the 
microscopic  irregularities  of  the  polished  marble  beneath  its 
feet,  may  busy  itself  in  hunting  for  little  specks  in  the  surface 
of  the  noble  fabric  of  Christianity ;  but  has  no  such  eye,  and 
takes  no  such  elevated  stand,  as  would  enable  it  to  survey 
the  whole  plan,  and  judge  of  its  pretensions  by  the  mutual 
adaptation  of  its  parts,  the  harmony  and  grandeur  of  its 
proportions. 

IV.  But  there  is  a  most  important  feature  in  all  the 
evidence  we  have  been  considering,  to  which  I  now  direct 
your  special  attention.  It  is  strictly  PHILOSOPHICAL.  By 
this  I  mean  that  the  process  by  which  we  have  arrived  at 
the  truth  of  Christianity  is  precisely  similar  to  that  by  wfyich 
the  astronomer  arrives  at  the  most  certain  truths  of  the 
celestial  bodies ;  or  the  chymist  determines  the  most  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  his  important  science.  The  grand 
characteristic  of  the  philosophy  that  Bacon  illustrated,  and 
Newton  so  nobly  applied,  and  to  which  all  science  is  so 
deeply  indebted,  is  that  it  discards  speculation ;  places  no 
dependence  upon  theory ;  demands  fact  for  every  thing, 
and  in  every  thing  submits  implicitly  to  the  decision  of  fact, 
no  matter  how  incomprehensible,  or  how  opposed  by  all  the 
speculations  of  the  world.  This  is  called  inductive  philosophy 
in  distinction  from  that  of  theory  and  conjecture.  It  collects 
its  facts  either  by  personal  experiments  and  observation ;  or 
by  the  testimony  of  those  whose  experiments  and  observa- 
tions, and  whose  fidelity  in  recording  them,  are  worthy  of 
reliance  From  these  it  makes  its  careful  inductions, 


376  LECTURE   XII. 

determines  the  laws  of  science,  with  a  degree  of  plain, 
unpresuming  authority,  to  which  every  enlightened  mind 
feels  it  ought  to  bow.  The  great  principle  of  all  Newton's 
Principia,  and  that  on  which  he  set  the  ladder  that  raised 
him  to  the  stars,  was  this  simple  axiom :  "  Whatever  is 
collected  from  this  induction  ought  to  be  received,  notwith- 
standing any  conjectural  hypothesis  to  the  contrary,  till  such 
time  as  it  shall  be  contradicted  or  limited  by  further  observa- 
tions." But  why  is  not  this  self-evident  truth  as  fundamental 
in  religion,  as  in  astronomy  ?  If  Reid  and  Stewart  have 
been  permitted,  with  universal  consent  and  approbation,  to 
apply  the  simple  principles  of  induction  to  the  philosophy 
of  the  mind ;  on  what  possible  ground  can  they  be  excluded 
from  the  philosophy  of  the  soul — the  religion  of  the  heart  ? 
We  beg  as  a  favour,  what  is  also  demanded  by  right,  that 
Christianity  may  be  tried  by  the  strictest  application  of  these 
principles.  You  are  called  upon  for  no  greater  effort  of 
credulity :  no  more  implicit  reliance  on  testimony,  in  order 
to  receive  the  whole  system  of  Christianity,  as  a  divine 
revelation,  than  you  are  obliged  daily  to  exercise  in  believ- 
ing those  innumerable  facts  in  natural  science,  which  you 
have  not  the  opportunity  of  testing  by  your  own  experiments. 
In  regard  to  these,  you  simply  ask,  what  is  the  statement? 
Is  it  accurate'?  Is  it  honest?  However  it  may  contradict 
your  previous  ideas,  or  seem  at  variance  with  previous 
phenomena,  or  even  with  well  established  laws,  you  only 
investigate  the  testimony  with  the  more  carefulness.  This 
confirmed,  you  receive  the  facts ;  and,  instead  of  squaring 
them  by  any  of  your  old  theories  or  speculations,  you  proceed 
to  measure  the  latter  by  their  line,  with  as  much  submission 
as  if  every  mystery  involved  in  them,  were  perfectly  explained. 
Only  behave  thus  reasonably  in  the  investigation  of  the 
great  question  we  have  been  considering.  Apply  to  it  the 
measuring  rod  of  sound  philosophy.  Let  every  speculation 
as  to  its  truth  be  blotted  out.  Let  all  conjectural  hypotheses, 
for  and  against  it,  be  set  aside.  Let.  the  infidel  and  the 


LECTURE    XII.  377 

Christian  sit  together  in  the  chairs  of  Bacon  and  of  Newton ; 
and  with  that  stern  rejection  of  mere  theory,  and  lowly  defer- 
ence to  fact,  which  so  eminently  distinguished  those  venerable 
patriarchs  of  modern  science,  let  the  New  Testament  be 
brought  to  the  bar.  It  professes  to  be  the  authentic  and 
credible  record  of  the  life  and  doctrine  of  Christ.  In  it, 
Christ  professes  to  have  been  sent  of  God.  Let  the  question 
be  put.  Not,  however,  is  this  religion  consistent  with  our 
notions  of  what  man  wanted,  and  God  might  have  been 
expected  to  reveal  ?  Not,  does  it  contain  any  thing  strange, 
or  mysterious,  or  apparently  contradictory  to  what  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  believe?  But,  let  it  be  a  plain  question 
of  inductive  philosophy.  Is  it  supported  by  a  competent 
number  of  well  certified  facts  ?  Is  there  so  mu'jn  credible 
testimony  that  we  are  warranted  in  determining  that  the 
New  Testament  is  authentic ;  that  its  history  is  true ;  that 
Jesus  did  work  miracles ;  that  his  prophecies  have  been 
fulfilled  ?  that  no  human  power,  unaided  by  that  of  God,  can 
account  for  the  propagation  of  his  gospel ;  that  no  corrupt 
imposture  could  ever  produce  the  fruit  with  which  its  in- 
fluence has  blessed  mankind?  If  there  be,  then  all  true 
philosophy  says :  "  Christianity  ought  to  be  believed,  not- 
withstanding any  conjectural  hypothesis  to  the  contrary." 
Only  confine  yourselves  to  this  mode  of  investigation,  and 
submit  yourselves  to  this  simple  law  of  evidence,  and,  like 
Newton,  you  may  mount  a  ladder  set  on  a  rock,  and  reaching 
to  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.  Proceed  on  any 
other  principle,  and,  like  the  heavenly  vortexes  and  the 
immense  currents  of  ethereal  matter  in  the  philosophy  of 
Des  Cartes,  it  can  only  lead  you  into  inextricable  confusion. 
But,  if  you  adopt  the  true  principles ;  what  becomes  of  the 
writings  of  infidels  ?  Buried  amidst  the  rubbish  of  vain 
speculations,  and  ingenious  absurdities,  and  scholastic  trifling 
of  the  dark  ages,  when  to  get  wealth  by  the  hypothesis  of  a 
philosopher's  stone,  instead  of  the  homely,  experimental 
realities  of  diligence  and  common  sense,  was  the  great  effort 


378  LECTURE    XII. 

of  scientific  ambition  !  Infidelity  is  all  speculation.  Reduce 
it  to  a  residuum  of  inductive  reasoning,  and  you  bring  it  to 
nothingness.  Strip  it  of  its  several  envelopes  of  ingenious 
hypothesis,  and  bold  assertion,  and  scoffing  declamation,  and 
you  find  nothing  left  but  a  man  of  straw — an  ugly  shape  to 
keep  the  hungry  from  the  bread  of  life,  which  you  need  only 
approach  to  discover  that  it  is  made  of  rags,  and  stuffed  with 
rottenness. 

The  argument  for  the  divine  authority  of  the  gospel  is  all 
composed  of  statements  of  undeniable  facts,  and  of  direct 
inferences  legitimately  drawn  from  them.  I  defy  the  ingenuity 
of  the  keenest  critic  to  take  up  the  course  of  reasoning  to  which 
you  have  listened,  and  point  out  a  single  theory,  or  specula- 
tion— any  thing,  depended  on  for  proof,  but  plain  statements 
of  facts,  established  as  perfectly,  and  bearing  as  directly  upon 
the  point  in  question,  as  any  of  the  observations  of  Newton's 
telescope,  or  of  Davy's  crucible.  Not  a  word  have  we  said 
as  to  what  might  be  supposed  or  conjectured ;  what  is  likely 
or  unlikely;  what  might  have  been  expected  or  the  contrary; 
but  have  simply  inquired,  what  is  historically  true.  Let  our 
opponents  do  likewise.  Whether  any  thing  in  Christianity 
appears  to  them  probable  or  improbable ;  consistent  or  in- 
consistent ;  agreeable  to  what  they  should  have  expected,  or 
the  contrary ;  wise  and  good,  or  ridiculous  and  useless  ;  is 
perfectly  irrelevant.  We  can  by  no  means  consent  to  make 
their  judgments  the  standard  in  such  matters.  Infidels  are 
thought  to  entertain  very  absurd  and  inconsistent  ideas  of 
absurdity  and  inconsistency,  and  of  what  should  be  esteemed 
as  both  good  and  wise.  We  ask  them  to  descend  from  their 
flights  of  fancy  and  speculation,  and  condescend,  in  matters 
of  religion,  to  do  what,  in  those  of  science,  public  opinion 
would  force  them  to,  or  laugh  them  out  of  countenance ;  to 
sit  down  to  the  plain  investigation,  on  principles  of  common 
evidence,  of  the  facts  which  support  Christianity,  determined 
*o  believe  what  may  be  collected  therefrom,  notwithstanding 
any  of  their  conjectural  hypotheses  to  the  contrary.  Such 


LECTURE  XII.  379 

was  once  the  honest  demand  of  astronomy  and  chemistry 
upon  all  the  tribes  of  theorists  and  conjecturalists,  in  those 
departments  of  science.  It  is  but  a  short  time  since  our 
present  fundamental  doctrines,on  those  subjects,\vere  opposed 
by  philosophers  whose  speculations  they  rooted  up,  precisely 
as  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel  are  still  opposed  by  infidels 
whose  lives  they  condemn.  By  and  by,  it  became  irresistibly 
evident  that  there  is  no  way  to  science  but  by  the  slow  and 
humble  path  of  experiment,  obtained  either  by  personal 
observation,  or  by  the  credible  testimony  of  others.  As  soon 
as  men  of  scientific  minds  shall  learn  to  be  consistent  with 
their  own  principles,  and  to  reason  philosophically,  as  well 
when  a  law  of  religion,  as  a  law  of  nature  is  concerned,  then 
the  contradiction  will  no  longer  appear,of  a  philosopher  loving 
to  investigate  the  works  of  God,  but  rejecting  His  word.* 
In  truth,  the  evidence  of  Christianity  rests  upon  a  basis 
which  cannot  be  condemned,  without  the  downfall  of  many 
of  the  most  important  works  of  science.  The  main  facts  and 
reasonings  of  chemistry  are  considered  undeniable,  because 
experimental.  But  who  feels  it  necessary  to  make  all  the 
experiments,  or  to  see  them  made,  before  he  will  believe  ? 
Many  of  the  most  important,  he  receives,  and  must  receive, 
upon  the  testimony  of  others.  Thus  it  is  also  in  astronomical 
calculations,  Seldom  are  the  facts  obtained  from  our  own 
observations.  Many  of  them,  we  believe,  because  they  are 
reported  by  credible  witnesses.  We  come  to  a  certain  result, 
by  means  of  a  number  taken  from  a  table  of  calculations 
made  to  our  hands,  with  as  much  assurance,  and  base  our 
reasonings  upon  it  as  confidently,  as  if  we  had  obtained  all 
the  elements  by  our  own  labour  ;  and  yet  the  very  corner 
stone  of  our  computation  is  a' mere  matter  of  testimony.  On 
such  reliance  are  eclipses  predicted,  and  nautical  observations 
founded ;  and  yet  a  man  of  science  who  should  evince  any 
scepticism  with  regard  to  events  thus  ascertained,  would 

*  On  the  application  of  the  inductive  philosophy  to  the  evidences  or  chrifl 
tianity,  see  chapters  viii.  and  ix.  of  Chalmer'e  Evidences. 


380  LECTURE   XII. 

render  himself  no  less  an  object  of  ridicule  than  if  he  should 
cavil  about  the  sun's  rising  to-morrow.  What  is  a  page  of 
logarithms,  but  a  page  of  assertions,  the  whole  value  of  which 
is  the  faith  of  testimony ;  and  yet  upon  such  data  the  most 
momentous  calculations  in  the  exact  sciences  are  based  with- 
out a  question. 

Pure  mathematics  are  considered  as  involving  complete 
demonstrations.  Mathematical  reasoning  is  regarded  as  the 
very  perfection  of  certainty.  And  yet,  in  many  of  its  most 
important  ^operations,  elements,  on  which  the  whole  chain 
depends,  are  assumed  on  a  basis  not  a  particle  more  sure,  to 
say  the  least,  than  that  on  which  our  belief  of  the  Christian 
miracles  is  founded.  "  Who  would  scruple,  in  a  geometrical 
investigation,  to  adopt  as  a  link  in  the  chain  a  theorem  of 
Apollonius  or  of  Archimedes,  although  he  might  not  have 
leisure  at  the  moment  to  satisfy  himself,  by  an  actual  examina- 
tion of  their  demonstrations,  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  no 
paralogism,  either  of  accident  or  design,  in  the  course  of  their 
reasonings  ?"*  And  yet  a  result,  however  important,  arising 
from  such  an  investigation,  none  would  suspect.  A  philoso- 
pher would  rest  his  life  upon  its  certainty.  But  have  we 
assurance  of  the  accuracy  and  honesty  of  such  men,  to  whose 
testimony  we  thus  implicitly  yield,  whether  they  be  mathema- 
ticians, or  chymists,  or  astronomers,  comparable  in  any  degree 
to  our  assurance  of  the  competent  knowledge  and  immovea- 
ble  honesty  of  those  original  witnesses  of  the  works  of  Jesus 
who  have  borne  such  devoted  testimony  to  his  miracles  1  Did 
Apollonius,  or  Archimedes,  or  any  philosophers  of  later  times, 
seal  their  honesty  with  their  blood  ?  Did  they  suffer  the  loss 
of  all  things  hi  maintenance  of  their  doctrines  ?  Were  they 
willing  to  be  accounted  as  fools  for  the  sake  of  their  testimony? 
Did  Galileo  brave  the  torture  of  the  inquisition  sooner  than 
deny  his  astronomical  discoveries  ?  We  do  not  require  such 
extreme  evidence  of  integrity  even  in  the  greatest  questions 
of  scientific  testimony.  It  were  folly  to  expect  it.  We  are 

*  Stewart's  Philosophy,  ii.  178. 


LECTURE    XII.  381 

satisfied  with  a  far  inferior  degree  of  assurance.  And  yet 
such,  in  ten  thousands  of  instances,  is  the  evidence  by  which 
we  know  the  honesty  of  those  from  whom  comes  our  testi- 
mony to  the  great  facts  of  the  gospel  history.  They  did 
suffer  the  loss  of  all  things ;  they  did  endure  to  be  treated  as 
the  offscouring  of  all  things ;  they  did  give  themselves  to  the 
i  ack,  and  flame,  and  wild  beasts,  for  the  testimony  c-f  Jesus. 
I  mentioned,  ir.  the  announcement  of  this  lecture,  that 
besides  a  summary  of  the  whole  previous  course,  it  would 
contain  an  application  of  the  argument  to  the  principal 
objections  brought  forward  by  infidels.  This,  in  substance, 
has  been  exhibited.  We  know  of  no  objection  of  any  im 
portance  which  is  not  put  to  silence  and  buried,  by  an  appeal 
from  what  men  think  to  what  men  have  done  ;  from  specu- 
lation to  testimony  ;  from  the  ideas  of  objectors  to  the  facts 
of  witnesses.  The  simple  application  of  the  great  principle 
of  inductive  philosophy,  that  whatever  is  collected  by  observa- 
tion ought  to  be  received,  any  hypothesis  to  the  contrary 
notwitlistanding,  is  the  smooth  white  stone  in  the  sling  of 
David,  which  no  champion  of  the  Philistines,  however 
gigantic  in  intellect,  or  learning,  or  in  the  boast  of  either,  can 
stand.  I  am  now  speaking  of  the  chief  objections.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  ignorant  ribaldry  of  such  an  antago- 
nist as  Paine.  To  this  man,  the  purity  of  the  gospel  was  its 
chief  deformity  ;  and  its  stern  contradiction  of  his  disgusting 
vices,  its  most  irreconcilable  inconsistency.  He  studied  the 
Bible  to  defame  it,  and  scraped  the  common  sewers  of  infi- 
delity for  its  very  lowest  and  filthiest  objections ;  and  then, 
without  honesty  even  to  advert  to  the  thousand  answers  each 
had  received  in  its  day,  served  them  up  with  his  own  dress- 
ing of  strong  assertion  and  acrid  ridicule,  and  advertised 
them  to  the  world  as  his  own,  and  as  unanswerable.  Such 
matters  we  must  leave  to  the  writings  of  those  who  have  had 
stomach  to  handle  them.  Ii>  the  answer  of  Bishop  Wat- 
son, you  may  see  how  entirely  boasting  is  their  strength. 
They  need  but  the  light,  to  make  all  their  show  of  argument 

32 


382  LECTURE  XII. 

fade  away.  Their  best  answer  is  found  in  the  profligate  life 
and  despairing  death  of  the  poor,  miserable  man  himself. 

The  mysteriousness  of  certain  things  in  Christianity  is 
urged  as  a  strong  reason  for  the  rejection  of  its  divine  author- 
ity. Many  will  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  ;  the 
divinity  of  Christ ;  his  incarnation ;  his  atoning  sacrifice ; 
his  resurrection  from  the  dead ;  his  intercession  in  heaven ; 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
our  new  creation  unto  holiness  by  his  converting  power,  not 
to  speak  of  many  other  of  the  deep  things  of  God,  because 
they  are  mysteries.  Mysteries  they  are  unquestionably,  and 
were  intended  to  be  so  regarded.  So  far  as  we  have  need  to 
understand  them,  they  are  as  intelligible  as  the  plain  truth 
that  man  is  the  union  of  body  and  spirit.  So  far  as  we 
are  not  concerned  to  understand  them,  they  are  as  mysterious, 
but  not  more  so,  than  the  nature  of  the  union  between  body 
and  spirit  in  man.  Religion  must  have  mysteries.  "  Reli- 
gion without  its  mysteries  is  a  temple  without  its  God." 

Whither  shall  we  flee  to  get  beyond  the  region  of  things 
incomprehensible  ?  They  beset  us  behind  and  before.  If 
from  revealed  religion,  we  go  to  natural,  they  are  there ! 
The  most  essential  doctrine  of  all  religion,  the  existence  of 
God,  is  mystery  to  the  uttermost.  What  explanation  can  be 
given  of  his  self-existence?  His  presence  in  all  parts  of  the 
universe  at  once  1  How  he  inhabits  eternity,  having  no  rela- 
tion to  time — and  immensity,  having  no  relation  to  space  ? 
If  from  natural  religion,  we  go  to  atheism,  they  are  there 
also  !  He  who  denies  the  existence  of  God,  plunges  at  once 
into  the  most  confounding  of  all  mysteries.  What  in  scrip- 
ture is  more  incomprehensible  than  that  this  world  had  no 
Maker  ?  that  all  its  examples  of  wise  and  deep  design  had 
no  Designer  ?  Will  you  go  from  thence,  to  the  experimental 
certainties  of  natural  philosophy  ?  Mysteries  are  there  also  ! 
Explain  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  the  nature  of  electri- 
city, the  elastic  power  of  steam,  the  secrets  of  evaporation. 
What  is  vegetable,  or  animal,  or  spiritual  life  ?  In  mechan- 


LECTURE   XII.  383 

ics,  we  arrive  at  the  utmost  certainty  respecting  the  relations 
of  force,  matter,  time,  motion,  space ;  while,  with  the  things 
themselves,  we  have  not  the  least  acquaintance.  They  are 
mysteries,  as  unsearchable  to  us,  as  the  deepest  things  of  re- 
vealed religion.  How  force  is  communicated  from  one  body 
to  another,  is  no  more  intelligible  than  how  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  communicated  to  man.  Matter,  in 
its  changes,  is  as  incomprehensible  as  grace  in  its  operations. 
"  There  are  questions,  doubts,  perplexities,  disputes,  diversi- 
ties of  opinions,  about  the  one  as  well  as  about  the  other. 
Ought  we  not,  therefore,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  to  con- 
clude that  there  may  be  several  true  and  highly  useful  pro- 
positions about  the  latter  as  well  as  about  the  former  ?  Nay, 
I  will  venture  to  go  farther,  and  affirm  (says  a  devoted  teacher 
of  science)  that  the  preponderance  of  the  argument  is  in 
favour  of  the  propositions  of  the  theologian.  For  while 
force,  time,  motion,  &c.,  are  avowedly  constituent  parts  of  a 
demonstrable  science,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  presented  in 
a  full  blaze  of  light,  the  obscure  parts  proposed  in  the  scrip 
tures  for  our  assent  are  avowedly  mysterious.  They  are  not 
exhibited  to  be  perfectly  understood,  but  to  be  believed. 
They  cannot  be  understood  without  ceasing  to  be  what  they 
are.  Obscurities,  however,  are  felt  as  incumbrances  to  any 
system  of  philosophy  ;  while  mysteries  are  ornaments  of  the 
Christian  system,  and  tests  of  the  humility  and  faith  of  its  vo- 
taries. So  that  if  the  rejectors  of  incomprehensibilities  acted 
consistently  with  their  own  principles,  they  would  rather 
throw  aside  all  philosophical  theories  in  which  obscurities 
are  found  and  exist  as  defects,  than  the  system  of  revealed 
religion,  in  which  they  enter  as  essential  parts  of  that  imys 
tery  of  godliness'  in  which  the  apostles  gloried."* 

If  from  natural  philosophy,  we  ascend  to  the  higher 
branches  of  pure  mathematics,  the  regions  of  unmixed  light 
and  certainty,  where  naught  is  tolerated  but  strict  demonstra- 

*  Gregory's  Letters. 


384  LECTURE    XII. 

tion,  even  there  will  mystery  find  ws,  and  its  right  hand 
will  hold  us. 

Explain  the  demonstrated  fact  that  "there  are  curves 
which  approach  continually  to  some  fixed  right  line,  with 
out  the  possibility  of  ever  meeting  it ;"  that  "  a  space  infinite 
in  one  sense,  may,  by  its  rotation,  generate  a  solid  of  finite 
capacity  ;"  that  "  a  variable  space  shall  be  continually  aug- 
menting, and  yet  never  become  equal  to  a  certain  finite 
quantity." 

These  are  depths  which  the  mathematician  can  solve  no 
better  than  Christians  can  explain  the  great  mysteries  oi 
redemption.  But  they  do  not  hinder  him.  He  can  use,  as 
the  elements  of  his  calculation,  doctrines  thus  incompre- 
hensible, without  feeling  any  diminution  in  the  certainty  oi' 
the  result.  Why  may  not  a  Christian,  with  equal  reason, 
include  among  the  articles  of  his  belief  doctrines  no  more 
incomprehensible,  without  embarrassing  his  assurance  of  the 
duties  and  consolations  which  result  from  them  ? 

If  mysteries  be  valid  objections  to  that  which  speaks  of 
God  and  his  relations  to  man,  why  are  they  not  at  least  as 
formidable  in  all  those  branches  of  human  knowledge  in 
which  created  and  finite  subjects  alone  are  involved  ?  But 
they  are  not  treated  as  objections  by  the  mathematician  or 
the  philosopher.  The  former  asks  no  question,  but  simply, 
what  is  demonstrated  ?  The  latter,  what  is  proved,  either 
by  experiment  or  by  testimony  7  If  phenomena  be  well 
attested,  he  does  not  wait  to  understand  their  cause,  or  mode, 
or  effects ;  he  does  not  suspend  belief  till  he  has  harmonized 
their  peculiarities  with  a  favourite  hypothesis,  or  with  pre- 
vious observations.  He  sets  them  down  among  the  truths 
of  science,  and  believes  ;  taking  for  granted,  that  though  he 
may  not  understand  them,  there  is  One  that  does ;  and  though 
he  should  never  discover  the  theory  by  which  such  events 
are  shown  to  be  in  agreement  with  all  others,  there  is  still  a 
harmony  which  pervades  "  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth, 
and  under  the  earth." 


LECTURE   XII.  385 

Such  is  the  application  of  inductive  philosophy  to  the 
mysteries  of  nature.  Let  the  mysteries  of  revelation  be 
treated  with  equal  justice ;  and  instead  of  employing  them 
as  objections  to  its  truth,  you  will  acknowledge  them  as 
essential  to  its  nature,  and  portions  of  its  glory.* 

But  there  are  many  who  object  to  Christianity,  not  only 
because  they  cannot  understand  the  nature,  but  because 
they  cannot  see  the  reason,  of  certain  things  contained  in, 
or  connected  with  it.  For  example  :  It  is  well  known  that 
God  is  gracious  and  merciful,  and  desireth  not  the  death  of 
a  sinner,  and  that  He  has  all  power  to  save  whom  He  will ; 
and  yet  it  is  revealed  that  without  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and 
without  conversion  and  faith,  the  sinner  cannot  be  saved. 
Why,  it  is  asked,  this  circuitous  method,  this  expense  of 
suffering,  when  a  word  from  the  Almighty  would  save  the 
world  ?  An  intelligent  Christian  could  give  many  answers 
to  this  question ;  but  what  if  he  had  none  ?  Would  the 
way  of  salvation,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  be  in  any  degree 
less  credible  ?  Shall  we  refuse  to  believe  the  ways  of  God, 
till  he  has  laid  all  his  reasons  before  us  ?  Why  not  as  well 
deny  His  works  on  the  same  indefensible  ground  ?  Why 
believe  that  a  sick  man  cannot  recover  without  a  tedious 
course  of  medicine  1  God  can  raise  him  with  a  word ! 
Why  cultivate  the  ground,  and  seek  the  mediatorial  office  of 
the  sun  for  the  raising  and  ripening  of  your  grain?  God 
can  load  your  fields  with  harvests  without  such  a  circuitous 
process !  Why  His  power  is  not  exerted  immediately  for 
these  purposes,  you  can  no  more  explain  than  why  a  sinner 
cannot  be  saved  but  by  faith  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Your 
belief  in  the  importance  of  intermediate  steps  depends  as 
little  upon  the  reasons  of  the  divine  appointments,  in  one 
case  as  in  the  other. 

Again :  you  read  that  the  gospel  is  of  inestimable  import- 
ance to  the  happiness  of  man :  a  wonderful  exhibition  of 

*  See  an  admirable  article  on  Mysteries  in  Religion,  in  Gregory's  Let 
ters,  vol.  i. 

32* 


386  LECTURE   XII. 

divine  grace  to  sinners ;  and  yet  there  are  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions who  have  never  heard  of  it,  and  it  is  asked,  why,  since 
God  is  infinitely  good  and  merciful,  as  well  as  mighty,  such 
an  immeasurable  blessing  has  not  been  communicated  to  all 
mankind  ?  This  question  is  often  put  as  a  strong  objection 
to  the  divine  origin  of  the  gospel.  Were  it  taught  in  the 
scriptures  that  those  who  had  never  had  the  gospel  will  be 
judged  by  its  law,  the  objection  would  have  force.  But  there 
is  no  such  doctrine.  The  objection  is  reasonable  only  so  far 
as  there  is  reason  in  a  creature's  requiring  the  Creator  to 
explain  His  ways,  and  admit  him  to  His  councils,  before  he 
will  believe  them.  Does  a  philosopher  stand  on  such  grounds ? 
Does  he  doubt  the  immense  difference  between  the  gifts  and 
blessings,  the  privileges  and  improvements,  of  a  native  of 
England,  and  those  of  a  savage  of  Kamtchatka,  because  he 
knows  not  for  what  reason  it  was  so  ordained?  Does  he  deny 
that  the  former  are  inestimable,  because  not  universal  ?  Will 
one  refuse  to  believe  that  he  has  a  mine  of  gold  in  his  field, 
or  that  the  gold  is  worth  his  seeking,  because  all  men  are  not 
equally  favoured  ?  Shall  a  husbandman  despise  the  genial 
rain  upon  his  grass,  because  his  neighbour's  fleece  is  dry  ? 
If  God  has  not  seen  fit  to  reveal  the  reasons  for  which  He 
has  distributed  the  gifts  of  nature,  of  providence,  or  of  grace 
with  an  unequal  hand,  I  find  nothing  to  complain  of.  I  can 
still  believe  that  those  gifts  are  from  above,  and  are  excellent, 
and  distributed  under  the  guidance  of  infinite  wisdom. 

That  there  are  no  difficulties  connected  with  the  scriptures, 
and  with  the  doctrines  of  revealed  religion,  it  would  be  saying 
too  much  for  the  intelligence,  education,  and  study  of  the 
general  reader,  to  assert.  Until  all  shall  be  candid,  studious, 
p>atient,  and  humble,  some  will  find  many  difficulties  in  Chris- 
tianity. If  a  child,  instead  of  beginning  arithmetic  in  the 
elements,  should  dive  at  once  into  the  midst  of  a  calculation 
of  algebraic  roots  and  powers,  he  would  scarcely  escape  being 
stifled  with  difficulties.  Thus,  however,  do  most  objectors 
to  Christianity  endeavour  to  appreciate  its  doctrines.  Instead 


LECTURE   XII.  38T 

of  learning  first  the  first  principles,  they  plunge  without 
ceremony  amidst  the  deepest  mysteries  of  the  gospel.  Is  it 
wonderful  that  they  come  out,  exclaiming:  "Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things?"  It  is  well  said:  "Objections  against  a 
thing  fairly  proved  are  of  no  weight.  The  proof  rests  upon 
our  knowledge,  and  the  ejections  upon  our  ignorance.  It  is 
true  that  moral  demonstrations  and  religious  doctrines  may 
be  attacked  in  a  very  ingenious  and  plausible  manner,  be- 
cause they  involve  questions  on  which  our  ignorance  is 
greater  than  our  knowledge;  but  still  our  knowledge  is 
knowledge ;  or  in  other  words,  certainty  is  certainty.  In 
mathematical  reasoning,  our  knowledge  is  greater  than  our 
ignorance.  When  you  have  proved  that  the  three  angles  of 
every  triangle  are  equal  to  two  right  angles,  there  is  an  end 
of  doubt;  because  there  are  no  materials  for  ignorance  to 
work  up  into  phantasms,  but  your  knowledge  is  really  no 
more  certain  than  your  knowledge  on  any  other  subject." 

If  it  be  a  valid  objection  to  religion  that,  to  some  minds,  it 
presents  difficulties  which  cannot  be  solved,  then  there  is  no 
department  of  human  knowledge  that  may  not  be  legitimately 
condemned.  What  is  more  certain  than  the  existence  of  a 
material  universe?  or  of  the  necessary  connexion  of  cause 
and  effect  ?  But  even  in  these,  wise  heads  have  succeeded 
in  discovering  difficulties  which  it  would  puzzle  much  more 
sensible  people  to  remove  by  a  process  of  reasoning.  That 
matter  is  infinitely  divisible,  is  assumed  in  science  as  funda- 
mentally certain.  That  the  doctrine,  however,  involves  very 
great  difficulties,  is  palpable  to  all  common  sense,  inasmuch 
as,  to  suppose  a  foot  measure  divided  into  an  infinite  number 
of  parts,  requiring  an  infinite  number  of  portions  of  time  to 
pass  over  them,  and  yet  to  be  passed  over  in  a  moment,  is  to 
make  a  moment  infinite,  in  other  words,  eternal ;  for  although 
it  should  be  said  that  the  portions  of  time  would  be  infinitely 
small,  still  they  would  be  portions  of  time,  and  an  infinite 
number  of  any  portions  of  time  must  make  an  infinite  dura- 
tion. Who  will  pretend  that  in  this,  there  is  no  room  ft* 


388  LECTURE   XII. 

perplexity  and  doubt  ?  In  the  mean  time,  the  operations  of 
science,  in  which  the  infinite  divisibility  of  matter  is  assumed, 
proceed  with  as  much  confidence  as  if  there  were  no  difficulty 
connected  with  it.* 

Much  is  said  of  the  certainty  of  mathematical  demonstra 
tions  ;  but  if  difficulties  that  cannot  be  solved  are  sufficient 
objections,  even  here  also  must  sentence  of  condemnation 
be  pronounced.  It  might  be  shown  how  trifling  are  even  the 
definitions  of  geometry,  the  most  exact  of  all  the  mathema- 
tical sciences.  Its  definitions  might  be  alleged,  upon  no 
inconsiderable  grounds,  to  be  nonsensical  and  ridiculous ;  its 
demands  or  postulates,  plainly  impracticable ;  its  axioms  or 
self-evident  propositions,  controvertible,  and  controverted 
indeed  even  by  themselves.  But  why  are  not  these  things 
objected  to  the  truth  of  mathematics  ?  What  is  there  in  the 
religion  of  Jesus  more  encumbered  with  difficulties  ? 

Were  the  dispositions  of  the  human  heart  and  the  idols 
of  a  sinner's  devotion  as  much  opposed  by  the  demonstrations 
of  mathematics,  as  by  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  it  would 
be  just  as  difficult  to  convince  men  of  the  truth  of  the  former, 
as  of  the  latter.  The  folly  of  speaking  of  a  something  that 
has  length  without  breadth ;  of  a  point  that  has  no  parts ; 
of  lines  for  ever  approaching  and  never  meeting,  &c. ;  the 
futility  of  basing  a  certain  demonstration  upon  elements  so 
unintelligible  and  impossible,  would  be  trumpeted  to  the  ends 
of  the  world.  The  wicked  would  no  more  believe  a  pro- 
position of  geometry,  than  they  will  now,  a  doctrine  of 
redemption.  The  scoffer  would  find  as  much  to  ridicule  in 
Newton's  Principia  as  in  Paul's  Epistles.j 

*  "The  divisibility,  in  infinitum,  of  any  finite  extension,  involves  us, 
whether  we  grant  or  deny  it,  in  consequences,  impossible  to  be  explicated,  or 
made  in  our  apprehensions  consistent;  consequences  that  carry  greater  diffi- 
culty, and  more  apparent  absurdity,  than  any  thing  that  can  follow  from  the 
notion  of  an  immaterial  substance." — Locke  on  Human  Understanding. 

t  See  an  interesting  piece  of  reasoning,  apropos  to  the  above,  in  one  of  the 
tracts  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  entitled  *'  Conversation  with  a  Young 
Traveller,"  No.  203. 


LECTURE    XII.  389 

But  we  do  injustice  to  the  good  cause  in  which  we  are 
engaged  by  standing  exclusively  on  the  defensi  /e.  Infidelity 
has  too  long  been  indulged  with  the  privilege  of  attack.  It 
is  the  stratagem  of  weakness,  to  put  on  a  bold  front  and 
make  a  desperate  assault.  Any  arm  can  strike,  but  not 
every  breast  can  repel  a  blow.  It  is  high  time  infidelity 
were  accused  and  brought  to  the  bar.  What  proof  of  a 
single  feature  of  doctrine  or  of  moral  principle  can  it 
produce,  after  having  rejected  such  evidence  as  that  of 
Christianity?  What  satisfactory  argument  for  the  obligation 
of  any  thing  connected  with  natural  religion ;  what  reason 
for  believing  in  a  future  state;  what  proof  even  of  the 
existence  of  God,  can  be  offered  as  worthy  of  reliance, 
without  a  shameful  inconsistency,  by  men  who,  in  the 
immense  power  of  evidence  sustaining  the  divine  authority 
of  the  gospel,  can  find  nothing  to  convince  them  ? 

We  have  shown  that  the  argument  for  Christianity  is 
strictly  philosophical,  because  entirely  experimental.  It 
might  easily  be  shown  that  every  system  of  infidelity,  so  far 
as  it  pretends  to  any  religious  doctrine  or  precept,  is  wholly 
destitute  of  all  claim  to  such  a  character.  What  a  catalogue 
of  theoretical  assertions,  and  unsustained  conjectures,  and 
positive  contradictions,  and  gross  absurdities,  and  inexplicable 
difficulties,  might  be  drawn  up  against  the  mos«;  rational  of 
the  infidel  systems  !  The  Deist  professes  to  believe  that  the 
light  of  nature  is  sufficient  for  human  guidance  in  all  matters 
of  moral  obligation  ;  and  yet  he  believes  that  notwithstanding 
such  all-sufficiency,  some  among  those  who  have  attempted 
to  follow  it  have  contended  for  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  others  have  denied  it ;  some  have  maintained  that  God 
created  all  things,  others  that  matter  is  as  much  from  eternity 
as  Himself:  some,  that  He  governs  and  will  judge  the  world, 
others  that  He  does  not  concern  himself  about  it ;  some,  that 
God  should  be  worshipped,  others  that  all  worship  is  <-veak 
superstition ;  some,  that  virtue  is  virtuous,  and  vice  viuious, 
others,  that  there  is  no  distinction  in  principle  between  them ; 


390  LECTURE    XII. 

that  sin  is  but  a  matter  of  custom  and  opinion,  and  that  the 
indulgence  of  the  lowest  passions  is  no  more  to  be  blamed 
lhan  the  thirst  of  a  fever  or  the  drowsiness  of  a  lethargy. 

Some  infidels  deny  that  Jesus  ever  lived,  and  yet  they 
believe  that  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews,  bitter  enemies  of 
Christianity  as  they  have  always  been,  acknowledge  that 
they  put  him  to  death  on  the  cross.  Some  confess  that  there 
was  such  a  person,  but  accuse  him  of  a  most  barefaced 
system  of  fraud  and  imposture ;  and  yet  they  cannot  but 
concede  that  his  character  was  eminently  pure  and  excellent. 
Others,  to  escape  such  a  contradiction,  maintain  that  he  was 
a  pure,  but  weak  and  visionary  enthusiast;  and  yet  they 
acknowledged  that  he  composed  and  inculcated  a  system  of 
morals  very  far  superior  to  that  of  the  wisest  of  the  ancient 
philosophers.  Infidels  profess  to  believe  that  the  apostles  of 
Christ  were  instigated  by  mercenary  considerations,  and  yet 
that  they  willingly  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things  ;  by  ambi- 
tious considerations,  and  yet  they  submitted  cheerfully  to  all 
ignominy  and  shame  !  According  to  infidels,  they  were 
devoted  to  a  selfish  scheme  of  personal  benefit,  and  yet  were 
always  going  about  doing  good,  without  the  least  regard  to 
their  own  convenience  or  pleasure.  They  were  gross 
deceivers,  it  is  said,  and  yet  they  endured  all  sufferings,  and 
sacrificed  their  lives,  in  confirmation  of  their  sincerity.  They 
were  weak  fanatics,  and  yet  the  strongest  and  most  learned 
minds  could  not  resist  the  power  and  wisdom  with  which 
they  spake.  Infidels  deny  that  Jesus  ever  wrought  miracles, 
but  cannot  deny  that  his  bitterest  enemies,  who  had  infinitely 
better  opportunities  of  judging  than  they  can  boast,  confessed 
the  contrary.  Infidpls  pretend  that  the  prophecies  of  the 
Bible  were  nothing  more  than  guesses,  and  that  all  corres- 
pondence between  them  and  subsequent  history  was  a  mere 
matter  of  chance ;  and  yet  they  cannot  find,  among  all  the 
guesses  in  the  Bible,  a  single  failure ;  while  they  cannot  deny 
that  many  of  its  guesses  have  succeeded,  in  the  minutest 
particulars,  in  spite  of  a  proportion  of  chances  against  them 


LECTURE   XII.  391 

too  great  for  numbers  to  express.  Infidels  contend  that  the 
gospel  is  against  all  reason  and  common  sense,  as  well  as 
truth  ;  they  laugh  at  the  efforts  of  modern  apostles  to  convert 
the  nations  of  heathenism  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  as  visionary 
and  fruitless.  Nothing  seems  to  them  more  impossible  than 
that  such  an  enterprize  should  succeed.  And  yet,  according 
to  their  wisdom,  when  only  twelve  missionaries,  with  none 
of  the  education,  or  experience,  or  human  support  and 
countenance ;  with  none  of  the  facilities  for  multiplying 
books,  and  disseminating  knowledge,  which  modern  labourers 
possess ;  when  twelve  despised,  persecuted  Jews,  undertook 
a  similar  work,  not  among  ignorant  barbarians,  but  polished 
Greeks ;  and  when,  in  less  than  forty  years,  their  cause 
was  coextensive  with  the  known  world ;  then  what  is  so 
impossible  now  was  nothing  wonderful  or  unaccountable  ;  it 
was  a  mere  matter  of  human  contrivance  and  enthusiastic 
perseverance  ;  the  work  of  men  alone,  and  of  weak,  super- 
stitious, credulous,  simple,  and  deceitful  men,  though  the 
only  work  of  the  kind  since  the  creation  of  the  world  ! 

It  were  easy  to  proceed  much  further  with  this  array  of 
the  contradiction  and  difficulties  into  which  men  are  neces- 
sarily brought  by  rejecting  the  evidences  of  christianit] . 
But  we  have  said  enough  to  show,  that  if  infidels  were  put 
upon  the  defensive  a  little  more  frequently,  they  would  have 
much  less  time  to  be  creeping,  with  poisoned  arrows,  around 
the  outworks  of  Christianity.  Let  them  point  out,  in  the 
belief  of  the  gospel,  any  thing  like  the  contradictions  and 
absurdities  involved  in  a  profession  of  infidelity,  and  it  shall 
be  renounced  as  unworthy  the  countenance  of  a  rational 
beingr. 


393  LECTURE    XIII. 


LECTURE    XIII. 

INSPIRATION    OF   THE    SCRIPTURES,    AND   CONCLUDING 
OBSERVATIONS. 

THE  external  evidences  of  Christianity,  as  a  system  of 
faith,  divinely  revealed,  we  consider  to  have  been  closed  with 
the  lecture  next  preceding  the  last.  On  that  subject,  we 
shall  offer  no  additional  argument.  But  there  remains  one 
very  important  matter  of  inquiry. 

Christianity  and  the  scriptures  are  essentially  associated. 
Without  the  latter,  we  should  not  have  received  the  former, 
But  however  inseparable  in  the  use  of  their  benefits,  they 
are  quite  distinct  in  the  proof  of  their  infallible  origin.  It  is 
one  thing  to  show  that  the  doctrines  taught  in  the  scriptures 
are  divine ;  and  another,  that  the  books  containing  those  doc- 
trines are  divine.  The  former,  we  think,  has  been  fully 
established.  The  latter  has  not  yet  been  attempted.  We 
have  proved  that  the  books  of  scripture  are  authentic  and 
credible ;  the  works  of  the  authors  whose  names  they  bear ; 
and  correct  narratives  of  such  matters  of  fact  as  they  profess 
to  relate.  But  were  we  to  stop  here,  we  should  leave  the 
Bible  on  a  level,  in  point  of  authority,  with  many  other  books 
of  the  Christian  religion  which  contain  the  truth,  and,  so  far 
as  we  can  judge,  contain  nothing  else ;  and  yet  have  no  pre- 
tension to  any  other  than  a  human  origin.  In  this  case,  we 
should  have  no  ultimate  and  sure  appeal  for  either  doctrine  or 
duty ;  a  door  would  be  open  for  all  manner  of  interference, 
on  the  part  of  "  man's  wisdom,"  for  the  perversion  and  cor 
ruption  of  the  truth  ;  the  most  essential  features  of  the  gos- 
pel, on  the  easy  plea  that  the  apostles,  being  men,  may 
sometimes  have  misunderstood  their  Master,  would  be  acces- 
sible to  the  most  ruinous  suspicions  of  overstatement  or 
misconception. 


LECTURE    XIII.  .  393 

We  have  need,  not  only  of  a  divine  system  of  religion, 
but  of  a  divine  teacher  of  that  system.  The  latter  was  pos- 
sessed by  the  apostles  in  the  person  of  Christ,  while  he  con- 
tinued with  them  ;  and  subsequently  in  the  special  presence 
and  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Saviour  promised 
as  a  Comforter,  to  lead  them  into  all  truth.  In  place  of  the 
privileges  thus  possessed,  what  remains  to  which  may  con- 
fidently be  referred  every  question  of  religious  doctrine  and 
duty,  and  by  which  our  minds  may  be  safely  led  to  the  whole 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  1  Are  the  scriptures  infallible  ?  In 
other  words,  are  they  divine?  Have  they  been  "given  by 
inspiration  of  God  T  This  brings  us  at  once  to  the  main 
point  of  the  present  lecture — THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE 
SCRIPTURES — a  subject  which,  however  eminently  important, 
has  had  so  much  done,  preparatory  to  its  consideration,  in 
our  previous  lectures,  that  it  need  not  occupy  at  present  a 
large  portion  of  your  time. 

The  distinct  proposition  to  which  your  attention  is  called,  I 
would  express  partly  in  the  language  of  St.  Peter :  The 
scriptures  came  not  by  the  will  of  man :  but  holy  men  of  God 
wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost;  or  in  the 
words  of  St.  Paul :  "  All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God." 

By  inspiration  is  understood :  "  Such  a  communication  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  minds  of  the  sacred  writers,  of  those 
things  which  could  not  have  been  otherwise  known,  and  such 
an  effectual  superintendency,  as  to  those  particulars,  concern- 
ing which  they  might  otherwise  obtain  information,  as 
sufficed  absolutely  to  preserve  them  from  every  degree  of 
error  in  all  things  which  could  in  the  least  affect  any  of  the 
doctrines  or  precepts  contained  in  their  writings,  or  mislead 
any  person  who  considered  them  as  a  divine  and  infallible 
standard  of  truth  and  duty." 

This  definition  is  perfectly  consistent  with  what  a  critic 
would  regard  as  a  fault  of  style  in  a  book  of  scripture ;  or  a 

philosopher,  as  scientifically  inaccurate  ;  or  a  rhetorician,  as 

33 


394  LECTURE   XIII. 

a  departure  from  the  rules  of  rhetorical  writing.  It  is  entirely 
compatible  with  the  evident  fact  of  the  several  authors  having 
written  in  such  various  idioms  and  styles  as  their  respective 
talents,  habits,  associations,  or  circumstances  rendered  most 
easy  and  natural :  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  places  all  the 
sacred  writers,  however  various  their  modes  and  minds,  on 
the  same  footing  of  divine  authority ;  and  gives  to  all  portions 
of  the  Bible  an  equal  claim  to  be  received  as  the  oracles  of 
God.  Thus,  over  the  just  interpretation  of  each  single  verse, 
is  written,  infallibility. 

In  examining  into  the  degree  of  authority  to  be  attached 
to  the  scriptures,  we  are  favoured  with  a  very  direct  appeal. 
We  may  go  to  the  scriptures  themselves.  Having  already 
established  their  credibility ;  we  have  a  full  warrant  to  de- 
pend on  them  for  a  true  statement  of  the  words  of  the  Saviour 
and  his  apostles.  Having  established  also  the  fundamental 
doctrine  that  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  were  divinely  sent 
and  attested,  we  have  a  right  to  rely  implicitly  on  theii 
words,  as  truth  divinely  sealed  and  certified.  Our  way, 
therefore,  is  plain.  We  must  search  the  scriptures  for  any 
words  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  of  his  apostles  concerning  the 
subject  before  us.  We  have  but  one  question  to  answer : 
Does  the  New  Testament  bear  witness  that  the  several  books 
composing  the  Bible  were  treated  or  represented  by  th& 
Saviour  or  his  apostles  as  divinely  inspired  7  This  deter- 
mined in  the  affirmative,  the  inspiration  of  the  scriptures  is 
decided,  until  the  whole  argument  of  the  preceding  lectures 
shall  be  proved  inconclusive. 

I.  Let  us  divide  the  question,  and  begin  our  inquiry  with 
the  Old  Testament  scriptures. 

1st.  It  is  undeniable  that  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  re- 
garded the  Old  Testament  with  at  least  as  much  reverence, 
as  did  the  Jews  in  their  day.  They  reproved  the  latter  for 
many  errors  of  doctrine  and  of  practice ;  for  mutilating  the 
scriptures  by  false  interpretations ;  and  for  making  them  of 
none  effect  through  their  traditions ;  but  nowhere  do  we  read 


LECTURE   XIII.  395 

the  least  insinuation  of  their  having  censured  the  Jews  for 
paying  too  much  respect  to  the  scriptures,  or  for  allowing 
them  too  much  authority.  On  the  contrary,  they  evidently 
joined  in,  most  earnestly,  with  the  Jewish  mind  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  and,  instead  of  attempting  to  unsettle,  aimed  directly  at 
increasing  its  habit  of  implicit  submission  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment writings.  But  had  the  Jews  been  erroneous  in  that 
high  degree  of  reverence  with  which  they  regarded  those 
sacred  books ;  such  countenance  and  example  on  the  pirt  of 
our  Lord  and  his  ambassadors  could  not  have  been  showed, 
consistently  with  the  perfect  truth  and  openness  which  marked 
all  their  dealings. 

Now,  be  it  observed,  that  the  Jews,  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
considered  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  as  divinely 
inspired ;  not  merely  in  respect  to  their  doctrines,  but  their 
whole  matter  and  substance.  Josephus  says,  that  in  his  time 
they  were  universally  believed  to  have  been  written  by  men 
" as  they  learned  them  of  God  himself  by  inspiration"  and 
were  justly  believed  to  be  "  DIVINE."  He  draws  a  wide  distinc- 
tion between  the  histories  of  the  Jewish  people  which  were 
written  since  the  time  of  Artaxerxes,  and  those  contained  in  the 
Bible,  and  gives,  as  a  reason  why  the  former  had  not  been 
received  as  having  so  much  authority  as  the  latter,  that  since 
Artaxerxes  there  had  not  been  a  succession  of  inspired  men. 
'  How  firmly  we  have  given  credit,"  he  says, "  to  these  books  of 
our  own  nation,  is  evident  from  what  we  do ;  for  during  so  many 
ages  as  have  already  passed,  no  one  hath  been  so  bold  as  either 
to  add  any  thing  to  them,  to  take  any  thing  from  them,  or  to 
make  any  change  in  them;  but  it  is  become  natural  to  all  Jews, 
immediately  and  from  their  very  birth,  to  esteem  those  books  to 
contain  divine  doctrines,  and  to  persist  in  them,  and  if  occa- 
sion be,  willingly  to  die  for  them."*  Hence  we  see  that 
Jesus  and  his  apostles,  in  coinciding  with,  and  in  employing 
and  promoting  the  current  sentiment  of  the  Jewish  people  in 
their  days,  must  be  considered  as  having,  really  and  in  the 

*  Cont.  Apion,  b.  i.  §§  7,  8. 


3%  LECTURE    XIII. 

broadest  sense,  espoused  and  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures. 

2d.  But,  unanswerable  as  is  the  above  attestation,  we  have 
a  direct  assertion  on  the  part  of  St.  Paul  of  still  greater  im- 
portance. Having  reminded  Timothy,  that  from  a  child  ho 
had  known  " the  holy  scriptures"  which  were  able  to  make 
him  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  he 
makes  this  positive  and  conclusive  declaration  :  "  All  scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works."* 

Here,  then,  is  the  plain  testimony  of  one,  whose  know- 
ledge and  veracity  we  have  ascertained,  that  whatever  in  his 
time  was  included  under  the  name  of  "  scripture,"  or  "  holy 
scriptures,"  was  of  divine  inspiration.  We  have  only  to  ask, 
therefore,  to  what  books  Paul  applied  that  name.  It  was  a 
name  of  common  use  in  his  day.  Josephus  and  Philo  fre- 
quently speak  of  "the  divine  scriptures,"  and  "the  holy 
scriptures."  It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  Paul  meant  to  be 
understood  as  asserting  the  divine  inspiration  of  that  collec- 
tion of  sacred  books  to  which  the  Jews  notoriously  applied 
such  names ;  in  other  words,  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. He  regarded  them  all  as  scripture.  He  declared  them 
all  inspired. 

Now,  that  under  the  same  title  we  have  the  same  collec- 
tion of  writings  is  certain  ;  not  only  from  the  important  fact 
that  on  this  head  there  is  a  perfect  agreement  between  our 
bibles  and  those  of  the  whole  Jewish  nation  at  the  present 
day ;  but  also  from  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  who,  although 
he  has  not  mentioned  the  names  of  the  several  books  consi- 
dered as  scripture  in  his  time,  has  given  us  their  number,  and 
so  described  them  that  their  identity  with  ours  cannot  be 
mistaken.  He  takes  care  to  speak  of  them  "as  of  divine 
.'<uthoriiv."t  In  addition  to  this,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
*  2  Tim.  iii.  15,  16,  17.  t  Cont.  Apion,  b.  i.  §  8. 


LECTURE  XIII.  397 

the  New  Testament  as  to  the  canon  of  the  Old.  For  besides 
the  books  of  Moses,  which  the  former  expressly  mentions  as 
of  divine  authority,  it  also  specifies  almost  all  the  other  books 
of  our  Old  Testament  as  belonging,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  to 
the  sacred  canon  of  the  Jews.  Some  are  omitted,  only 
because  the  mentioning  of  any  is  incidental.  Nothing  but 
a  formal  enumeration  can  be  expected  to  be  complete.  That 
none  are  excepted  against,  is  proof  that  all  were  received  by 
the  Lord  and  his  apostles. 

Hence,  we  are  fully  warranted  to  believe  that  "  all  scrip- 
ture," in  the  mouth  of  St.  Paul,  meant  all  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  Jews  arid  Christians  at  present  unite 
in  receiving  as  divine  oracles  ;  consequently,  we  have  apos- 
tolic authority  in  proof  that  they  were  all  "  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God." 

Much  additional  evidence  to  the  same  point  might  be 
added  ;  but  with  any  who  acknowledge  the  argument  of  the 
previous  lectures,  and  thence  believe  that  whatever  St.  Paul 
asserted,  as  a  doctrine  of  Christianity,  is  true,  the  above  sim- 
ple reasoning  will  be  amply  sufficient  for  the  divine  inspira- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament. 

II.  Let  us  proceed  to  the  second  division  of  our  subject, 
and  carry  our  inquiry  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

1st.  The  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament  may  be  natu- 
rally and  reasonably  inferred  from  that  of  the  Old.  In  this., 
we  argue  by  analogy.  No  reason  can  be  given  why  those 
holy  men  of  old,  who  composed  the  books  of  the  other  Tes- 
tament, should  have  written,  not  "  by  the  will  of  man,"  but 
"  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  does  not  apply 
with  much  greater  force  to  the  writers  of  the  later  volume. 
The  economy  of  the  Old  Testament  was  to  cease  at  the 
advent  of  Christ ;  that  of  the  New  will  endure  to  the  end  of 
th  8  world.  The  former  was  intended  only  for  a  single  nation , 
and  adapted  but  to  a  country  of  narrow  boundaries.  The 
latter  was  framed  to  include  all  nations,  and  is  intended  of 
God  to  be  coextensive  with  the  globe.  The  law  had  onlv 


398  LECTURE   XIII. 

"  a  shadow  oi  good  things  to  come ;"  the  gospel  has  "  the 
very  image  of  the  things  ;"  the  first  was  a  system  of  types, 
"  which  stood  only  in  meats,  and  drinks,  and  divers  washings, 
and  carnal  ordinances  imposed,  until  the  time  of  reforma- 
tion ;"  the  second  (the  time  of  reformation  being  come)  is  a 
system  of  direct  revelation  ;  the  veil  has  been  rent  in  twain, 
so  that  it  may  be  said,  in  comparison  with  the  previous  dis- 
pensation, that  we  "  no  longer  see  through  a  glass,  darkly,  but 
face  to  face."  One  grand  distinction  of  the  economy  of  the 
gospel  is,  that  it  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  That  pecu- 
liar feature  in  which  its  covenant  is  "  a  better  covenant,  estab- 
lished upon  better  promises" — "  a  new  covenant" — is  found 
in  this,  that  it  is  a  spiritual  covenant  ;  its  promises,  its  privi- 
leges, its  duties,  its  parties,  are  all  spiritual.  Its  character,  in 
this  respect,  is  seen  in  that  stipulation  of  its  Divine  Author : 
"  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their 
hearts"  So  much,  therefore,  does  this  "  ministration  of  righ- 
teousness exceed  in  glory"  all  that  preceded  it,  that  although 
there  had  never  risen,  under  the  Old  Testament  system,  a 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist ;  yet  "  he  that  is  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  (i.  e.  under  the  New  Testament  system,)  is 
greater  than  he." 

Now,  is  it  supposable  that,  under  a  dispensation  so  limited 
In  extent  and  duration  as  that  of  the  law ;  so  carnal  in  its 
ordinances ;  so  obscure  in  its  revelations ;  serving  only  "  unto 
the  example  and  shadow  of  heavenly  things ;"  the  sacred 
books  should  have  been  given  by  inspiration  of  God ;  and 
yet,  that  under  the  far  better  covenant  of  the  gospel,  designed 
for  all  mankind,  and  to  stand  while  the  world  endures ;  a 
dispensation  so  eminently  distinguished  for  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit ;  for  the  spiritual  gifts  of  its  earliest  ministers, 
and  the  spiritual  duties  and  blessings  of  all  its  members :  we 
should  be  left  to  a  standard  of  truth  and  duty,  dictated  only  by 
the  wisdom,  composed  only  under  the  superintending  care,  of 
fallible  men  ?  Surely  the  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament 
is  naturally  and  reasonably  inferred  from  that  of  the  Old. 


LECTURE    XIII.  399 

2d.  The  same  conclusion  necessarily  arises  from  the 
evident  inspiration  of  the  apostles  in  their  preaching1  and 
other  official  actions. 

It  was  expressly  promised  by  the  Lord,  that  when  they 
should  stand  before  enemies,  in  defence  of  the  gospel,  they 
should  speak  by  inspiration  of  God.  In  such  circumstances, 
their  direction  was:  "Take  no  thought  how  or  what  ye 
shall  speak.  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of 
your  Father  which  speaketh  in  you."  "  The  Holy  Ghost 
shall  teach  you  in  that  same  hour,  what  ye  ought  to  say." 
"I  will  give  you  a  mouth  and  wisdom,  which  all  your 
adversaries  shall  not  be  able  to  gainsay,  nor  resist."*  We 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  these  promises  of  inspiration 
were  confined  to  the  special  circumstances  referred  to  in  the 
passages  above  quoted.  The  apostles  were  to  be  placed  in 
many  others  for  which  they  would  be  quite  as  needful. 
Certain  circumstances  were  particularly  spoken  of  by  the 
Lord ;  because  in  them  the  faith  of  his  apostles  would  be 
particularly  tried.  ' •  '•'•+•• 

But  inspiration  was  promised  by  the  Saviour,  in  terms  of 
the  most  comprehensive  kind.  A  little  before  his  crucifixion, 
when  the  hearts  of  his  disciples  (Judas  having  left  them) 
were  greatly  troubled  at  the  assurance  that  he  was  soon  to 
be  taken  from  them  ;  he  promised  to  send  them  a  Comforter 
— the  Holy  Spirit — who  should  abide  with  them  for  ever. 
This  blessed  Person,  he  called  repeatedly  "the  Spirit  ol 
truth."  He  was  distinctly  promised  to  the  apostles,  as  a 
substitute,  in  all  respects,  for  the  presence,  the  guidance,  the 
instructions  of  their  Lord  himself.  The  great  consolation 
of  such  a  substitute  consisted  in  his  being  to  the  apostles, 
invisibly,  just  what  Jesus  had  been  to  them,  visibly  ;  so  that 
they  might  consider  themselves  to  be  divinely  directed  and 
instructed  under  his  influence,  in  a  manner  quite  as  direct 
and  infallible,  as  if  they  had  still  the  Master's  voice  to  hear, 
and  his  footsteps  to  follow.  They  were  assured  that  "  the 

»  Mat.  x.  19,  20.     Luke  xii.  12;  and  xxi.  15. 


4  K)  LECTURE  XIII. 

Spirit  of  truth"  would  teach  them  whatever  knowledge  their 
duties  might  require.     "He  shall  leach  you  all  things" 
"  He  will  lead  you  into  all  truth"      Had  they  forgotten  any 
portion  of  their  Lord's  instructions  ?     "  The  Spirit  of  truth" 
said  he,  "  shall  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance  what- 
soever I  have  said  unto  you"     "  He  shall  take  of  mine,  and 
shall  show  it  unto  you."     Even  the  knowledge  of  the  future 
was  promised  to  the  apostles,  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     "He  will  show  you  things  to  come"     They  were 
directed  to  tarry  in  Jerusalem  after  his  death,  until  they 
should  receive   "power  from  on  high."     Now    all  these 
promises  are  positive  proofs  that  the  apostles  were  inspired 
in  their  ministry,  as  soon  as  their  fulfilment  took  place. 
Thus,  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  and  the 
Spirit  descended  upon  them,  "  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  "  began  to  speak  as  the  Spirit  gave  them 
utterance."     By  this  inspiration,  they  were  enabled  to  preach, 
in  all  languages,  the  wonderful  works  of  God.     The  sermon 
of  Peter,  on  that  day,  was  spoken  under  this  influence.     By 
the  same  help,  he  discerned   the  spirit  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira.     Their  lie  was  unto  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  as  much 
as,  it  was  unto  one  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  inspired.     Directed 
by  the  same  Spirit,  Peter  journeyed  from  Joppa  to  the  house 
of  Cornelius,  and  first  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gen- 
tiles.    Paul,  by  inspiration,  went  forth  on  his  mission  from 
Antioch  to  the  lesser  Asia  ;  being  "  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
lie  searched  the  conscience  of  Elymas,  the  sorcerer,  and 
punished  his  wickedness  with  blindness.     When  the  apostles, 
and  elders,  and  brethren  were  assembled  in  council  about  the 
question  sent  up  from  Antioch  for  their  decision ;   they 
consulted  and  determined  as  they  were  guided  by  inspiration 
of  God.     " It  seemeth  good  to  the  Holy   Ghost"  was  the 
solemn  sanction  annexed  to  their  sentence.     They  claimed 
to  be  always  received,  as  inspired.     Their  speech  and  their 
preaching,   they  asserted,  were  "  in  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit ;"  "  not  in  the  words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth, 


LECTURE    XIII. 


401 


but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  It  is  expressly  declared 
by  St.  Peter,  that  his  brethren  and  himself  "  preached  the 
gospel  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven."  All 
these  statements,  and  many  others  which  might  be  adduced, 
abundantly  confirm  the  position,  that  the  apostles,  in  then 
preaching  and  other  official  actions,  were  in  the  highest  sense 
inspired. 

Hence  it  would  seem  to  be  very  naturally  and  reasonably 
inferred,  that  when  they  wrote  for  the  permanent  guidance 
of  the  churches,  they  were  inspired  also.  Can  it  be  supposed 
that  St.  Paul,  in  preaching  to  the  Ephesians  or  Corinthians, 
spake  as  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  yet  was 
entirely  bereft  of  that  divine  aid,  when  he  sat  down  to  the 
much  more  important  work  of  composing  epistles  to  those 
churches  1  When  it  is  considered  how  entirely  all  the  oral 
communications  of  the  apostles  ceased  to  be  remembered,  in 
a  short  time  after  they  were  uttered,  except  as  they  were 
recorded  in  the  scriptures ;  and  how  their  written  communi- 
cations to  the  churches  have  remained  unmutilated,  these 
eighteen  hundred  years ;  and  are  now  circulated  in  upwards 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  languages  ;  and  will  continue 
to  be  the  guide  and  treasure  of  the  church  to  the  end  of  the 
world ;  can  it  be  believed  that  in  these  the  apostles  were  left 
to  their  own  fallible  wisdom,  though  guided  in  the  others  by 
the  inspiration  of  God  ?  Such  an  opinion  would  be  absurd 
in  the  extreme. 

It  seems  to  be  a  necessary  conclusion,  from  the  above 
premises,  that  the  authors  of  the  New  Testament  were 
divinely  inspired,  as  well  when  writing  for  all  people  and 
all  ages,  as  when  speaking  to  the  congregation  of  a  single 
synagogue. 

3d.  If  the  apostles  did  not  intend  to  impress  the  church 
with  a  belief  that  they  wrote  by  divine  inspiration,  they 
adopted  the  very  means  that  were  most  likely  to  lead  its 
members  into  a  most  important  heresy.  St.  Paul,  in  an 
epistle  to  Timothy,  which  he  knew  would  be  universally  oir- 


402 


LECTURE   XIII. 


culated,  piulished  the  broad  assertion:  "  All  scripture  it 
given  by  inspiration  of  God."  Now  it  is  worthy  of  note, 
that  the  epistle,  containing  this  declaration,  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  have  been  written  after  all  the  other  works  of  St. 
Paul,  and  but  a  short  time  before  his  martyrdom  at  Rome. 
At  any  rate,  it  was  one  of  his  latest  works.  The  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  had  been  written  and  circulated  at  least  twenty 
years.  Those  by  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  were  already  in 
the  possession  of  the  churches.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  We  know  of  no  part  of  the  whole 
New  Testament  that  was  written  subsequently  to  the  uttering 
3f  the  above  declaration,  except  the  gospel,  epistles,  and 
Revelation  by  St.  John. 

In  connexion  with  this,  be  it  observed,  that  when  the 
primitive  Christians  received  an  epistle  or  gospel  from  one  of 
the  apostles  or  evangelists,  they  regarded  it  as  a  portion  of 
holy  scripture.  By  this  familiar  name,  it  was  universally 
known,  and  with  this  high  honour,  it  was  always  treated. 
Precisely  as  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  speak  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  calling  them  the  scriptures,  do 
the  Christian  writers,  who  were  contemporaneous  with  the 
apostles,  continually  quote  their  books.  This  cannot  be 
questioned.  Then,  consider  the  circumstances  of  the  church- 
es. They  have  in  possession,  and  in  daily  use,  a  number  of 
writings  which  have  been  sent  them  by  the  apostles  and 
evangelists,  the  greater  part  of  them  by  St.  Paul  himself.  It 
is  well  known  to  the  latter,  that  those  writings  are  universally 
revered  and  read  as  holy  scriptures.  In  these  circumstances, 
he  declares  that  "  all  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 
How  are  they  to  understand  him?  Shall  they  say:  He 
speaks  in  that  passage  only  of  the  Jewish  scriptures  ?  His 
primary  reference  was  unquestionably  to  them.  But  in  what 
sense  can  his  assertion  be  true  of  all  scripture,  if  so  large  a 
part  as  that  comprising  the  New  Testament,  and  which  was 
universally  denominated  scripture,  came  only  "by  the  will 


•     LECTUKE  XIII.  403 

of  man  ?"    But  this  is  not  all  that  the  apostles  did  to  promote 
the  belief  of  the  inspiration  of  their  writings. 

The  Christian  churches  were  accustomed  to  appeal  to  the 
Old  Testament  as  an  inspired  volume.  A  large  number  of 
their  members  had  been  educated  in  the  Jewish  faith,  and  by 
habit,  as  well  as  reflection,  always  associated  the  idea  of 
divine  inspiration  with  that  of  a  book  of  scripture.  Conse- 
quently, when  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  were 
received ;  when  they  came  to  occupy,  in  regard  to  the  Chris- 
tian church,  a  corresponding  place  to  that  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment books  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  church  ;  when  they  were 
honoured  by  universal  consent,  with  the  same  title  of  "  holy 
scriptures"  as  was  applied  to  the  sacred  books  of  the  former 
dispensation ;  it  was  extremely  natural  that  the  churches 
should  treat  them  precisely  as  they  treated  the  older  books, 
and  believe  them  also  to  have  been  written  by  inspiration  of 
God.  That  they  did  thus  regard  them  is  indisputable. 
Clement,  bishop  of  Rome,  a  contemporary  of  the  apostles, 
says :  "  Look  into  the  holy  scriptures,  which  are  the  true 
words  of  the  holy  Ghost.  Take  the  epistle  of  the  blessed 
Paul,  the  apostle,  into  your  hands ;  verily  he  did  by  the 
Spirit  admonish  you."  The  primitive  Christians  rejected 
from  the  canon  of  scripture  certain  books,  because,  though 
true  and  edifying,  they  were  not  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
They  habitually  spoke  of  the  New  Testament  as  "  The 
Word  of  God,"  "  The  Voice  of  God,"  "  The  Oracles  of  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

Now,  in  such  circumstances,  how  would  the  apostles,  as 
men  of  common  honesty  and  candour,  have  acted  in  case 
they  did  not  consider  their  writings  to  be  inspired  ?  Know- 
ing the  natural  tendency  and  the  actual  state  of  public  opin- 
ion among  the  churches,  could  they  have  been  even  silent 
on  this  subject  ?  Must  they  not  have  warned  their  discipies 
against  a  disposition  so  dangerous,  and  a  heresy  so  conspicu- 
ous ?  Would  not  the  most  ordinary  measure  of  humility 
and  faithfulness  ha^e  impelled  them  to  draw  the  line  of  dis 


404  LECTURE   XIII.- 

tinction,  too  plainly  to  be  mistaken,  between  what  they  had 
written  by  their  own  wisdom,  and  what  holy  men  of  old  had 
written  "as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost?"  What 
course  do  they  pursue  ?  Not  only  do  they  allow  the  natural 
disposition  ol  those  accustomed  to  attach  inspiration  to  the 
scripture  to  have  its  way ;  not  only  do  they  say  nothing  hav- 
ing the  least  tendency  to  correct  the  universal  impression  of 
the  churches  on  so  vital  a  point ;  but  they  adopt  the  very 
course  which  was  calculated  directly  to  confirm  all  their 
prepossessions.  They  introduce  their  writings  in  a  manner 
of  authority  precisely  similar  to  that  of  the  inspired  men  of 
older  times.  Witness  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  :  "  Paul  an  apostle  (not  of  men,  neither  by  man, 
but  by  Jesus  Christ  and  God  the  Father  who  raised  him 
from  the  dead)  unto  the  churches  of  Galatia,"  &c.  Peter, 
speaking  of  the  epistles  of  Paul,  as  familiarly  known  among 
Christians,  expressly  numbers  them  among  "  the  scriptures" 
and  puts  them  upon  a  level  with  "the  other  scriptures"* 
which  Jews  and  Christians  alike  considered  to  have  been 
written  by  inspiration.  Paul  speaks  of  the  writings  of  the 
l'  apostles  and  prophets"  as  constituting  together  that  good 
foundation  on  which  Christians  were  built,  "Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone."t  And  after  Peter  has 
particularly  included  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  among  the 
scriptures,  the  latter  publishes  his  declaration  that  "  all  scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 

If  those  holy  men  did  not  intend  to  promote  the  belief  of 
the  inspiration  of  their  writings;  if  they  were  desirous  of 
teaching  the  churches  to  make  a  wide  distinction  between 
their  works,  as  merely  human  and  fallible,  and  those  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  as  divine  and  infallible ;  how  singu- 
larly did  they  mistake  the  way !  how  exactly  did  they 
inculcate  what  they  wished  to  contradict,  and  build  up  what 
they  were  bound  to  destroy ! 

In  what  manner  the  primitive  churches  understood  their 

*  2  Peter,  iii.  16.  t  Ephesians,  ii.  90. 


LECTURE    XIII.  405 

instructions,  is  manifest;  and  on  the  supposition  that  the 
apostles  taught  that  their  writings  were  not  inspired,  it  forms 
a  singular  proof  of  the  great  obscurity  with  which  they  must 
have  expressed  themselves.  Justin  Martyr,  a  contemporary 
with  St.  John,  .says  that  "  the  gospels  were  written  by  men 
full  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Irenaeus,  a  few  years  later,  declares 
that  "  the  scriptures  were  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
that,  therefore,  it  is  wickedness  to  contradict  them,  and  sacri- 
lege to  alter  them."  "The  gospel,"  he  says,  "was  first 
preached,  and  afterwards,  by  the  will  of  God,  committed  to 
writing,  that  it  might  be,  for  time  to  come,  the  foundation 
and  pillar  of  our  faith." 

Enough,  it  is  believed,  has  now  been  exhibited  to  satisfy 
any  reasonable  mind  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  their  blessed  Master,  that 
the  church  should  regard  their  works  as  having  been 
dictated  and  rendered  infallible  by  divine  inspiration.  To 
those  who  acknowledge  that  Christ  and  his  apostles  were 
commissioned  and  taught  of  God,  this  is  perfect  evidence  of 
the  great  doctrine  at  which  we  have  been  arriving.  For  those 
who,  after  all  that  has  been  said  in  our  preceding  lectures, 
shall  still  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  Lord  Jesus  and  his 
apostles  as  divinely  commissioned  and  endowed,  we  have  no 
more  argument.  Much  additional  reasoning  might  be  offered ; 
but  such  is  the  conclusiveness  of  what  has  been  adduced,  that 
it  may  be  said  without  presumption,  if  they  believe  not  upon 
such  evidence,  "  neither  would  they  believe  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead."* 

We  may  now  conclude  a  course  of  lectures,  which  has 
already  extended  far  beyond  the  anticipations  of  the  author. 
Having  arrived  at  the  divine  authority  of  Christianity,  and 
the  divine  inspiration  of  the  scriptures,  we  have  not  only  a 
religion  revealed  from  God,  but  an  infallible  expression  of 

*  For  a  much  more  extended  and  able  view  of  the  inspiration  of  the  New 
Testament,  see  Dick  on  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  Lectures  on 
the  same  by  Leonard  Woods.  D.  D.,  Andover. 

34 


406  LECTURE  XIII. 

its  doctrines  and  duties.  We  have  the  guide,  as  well  as 
the  way,  to  everlasting  life — both  equally  certain,  equally 
divine. 

Let  us  be  thankful  for  such  unspeakable  gifts.  Next  to  the 
mercy  of  a  Saviour — able  and  ready  "  to  save  to  tho  utter- 
most all  that  come  unto  God  by  Him" — is  the  book  of  the 
inspiration  of  God,  which,  as  a  lamp  to  our  feet,  and  a  light 
to  our  path,  conducts  to  such  a  Friend,  and  teaches  us,  with- 
out mistake,  all  that  we  must  do  to  be  saved. 

Let  us  consider  our  obligation  to  study  this  blessed  book, 
with  most  serious  attention  and  care.  What  can  be  more 
ungrateful,  more  disobedient,  more  sinful,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
than  the  total  neglect,  or  the  careless  reading  of  a  volume 
which  His  own  Spirit  indited  for  our  express  guidance  and 
consolation  ?  "  Search  the  scriptures  !"  is  the  injunction,  as 
well  of  our  reason,  as  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  "  Let  the  "word  of 
Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,"  is  a  command  as  de- 
lightful in  its  obedience,  as  it  is  authoritative  in  its  declaration. 

Let  us  yield  implicit  submission  to  the  decisions  of  the 
scriptures.  In  them  we  read  the  oracles  of  God — the  mind 
of  the  Spirit — infallible  wisdom.  As  inspired  pages,  then- 
authority  is  absolute.  It  is  plain  duty,  therefore,  to  bring 
every  question  of  truth  or  practice  to  their  judgment ;  and  to 
bow,  without  a  question,  or  a  murmur,  or  the  least  reserve 
of  mind  or  heart,  to  whatever  they  require.  To  proceed  on 
any  other  principle ;  to  bring  any  thoughts  of  ours  into  the 
least  competition  with  the  decision  of  the  scriptures ;  to  sub- 
mit to  one  portion  of  the  Bible,  more  than  to  another ;  to 
withhold  assent  to  any  of  its  doctrines,  till  we  can  fully  per- 
ceive their  necessity,  or  reasonableness,  or  their  consistency 
with  certain  notions  of  human  wisdom,  is  a  practical  denial 
of  the  divine  authority  of  the  whole  volume,  and  deserves  no 
other  name  than  that  of  unbelief. 

Let  us  search  the  scriptures  daily  ;  for  they  were  made  to 
he  daily  "  profitable  for  doctrine,  reproof,  correction  and  in- 


LECTURE   XIII.  407 

struction  in  righteousness."  It  is  only  when  taken  as  an 
intimate  companion  and  friend,  that  the  Bible  throws  oft'  its 
reserve,  and  appears  in  all  its  excellence.  Then  it  speaks  to 
the  heart,  and  begins  to  develope  treasures  of  consolation  as 
numerous  as  the  wants  of  sinners,  as  endless  as  the  grace  of 
their  Saviour.  We  can  well  perceive  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  general  construction  of  Christianity,  while  standing 
without,  and  looking  only  upon  its  walls  and  bulwarks ;  but, 
like  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  we  must  enter  within  the  holy 
place  to  "  behold  the  fair  beauty  of  the  sanctuary ;"  the  fine 
gold  of  its  workmanship;  and  the  glory  of  Him  "who 
dwelleth  between  the  cherubim."  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord 
is  with  them  that  fear  him;  and  he  will  show  them  his 
covenant." 

Let  us  search  the  scriptures  with  prayer;  "  praying  always 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit,"  that  we  may 
be  "  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  His  will  in  all  wisdom  and 
spiritual  understanding."  The  key  of  the  ark,  in  which  are 
laid  up  the  tables  of  testimony,  is  prayer.  By  this  alone  can 
we  set  into  "the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,"  and  be 
taught  of  God.  He  who,  without  prayer,  should  seek  to 
enter  within  the  veil,  and  obtain  a  view  of  the  divine  glory 
as  it  shines  within  the  scriptures,  would  act  no  less  pre- 
sumptuously, than  Aaron,  the  high  priest,  had  he  attempted, 
without  his  brazen  censer  and  his  incense,  to  pass  the  veil  of 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  stand  before  the  mercy-seat.  "  My 
son,"  saith  the  scripture,  "  if  thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and 
liftest  up  thy  voice  for  understanding ;  if  thou  seekest  her  as 
silver,  and  searches!  for  her  as  hid  treasures ;  then  shalt  thou 
understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  knowledge  of 
God." 

We  began  these  lectures  with  prayer  to  God  for  his  Holy 
Spirit  to  guide  our  way  and  help  our  infirmities,  that  all  of  us 
might  see  and  embrace  the  truth.  We  recommended  prayer 
as  one  of  the  chief  means  to  be  used  by  ail  who  would  study 
the  evidences  of  Christianity  in  a  right  spirit.  We  are  now 


408  LECTURE  xm. 

just  at  the  last  words  of  a  course,  which,  we  trust,  God  has 
not  permitted  to  be  heard  by  you  without  precious  benefit,  as 
well  in  increasing  your  impression  of  the  solemn  claims  of  the 
gospel  upon  your  hearts  and  lives,  as  in  strengthening  your 
conviction  of  its  truth  as  a  revelation  from  God  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  Take,  we  beseech  you,  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
wherein  God  speaks,  by  his  Spirit,  to  every  generation,  as 
your  unfailing  guide,  your  most  dear  treasure,  the  appointed 
means  by  which,  as  the  inspired  vehicle  of  God's  truth,  it  is 
His  revealed  purpose  to  carry  on,  through  the  inworking  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  sanctification  of  them  that  believe  in  the  name 
of  His  only  Son,  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ! 


"  BLESSED  LORD,  who  hast  caused  all  holy  scrip- 
tures to  be  written  for  our  learning,  grant  that  we 
may,  in  such  wise,  hear  them,  read,  mark,  learn,  and 
inwardly  digest  them,  that  by  patience,  and  comfort 
of  thy  Holy  Word,  we  may  embrace  and  ever  hold 
fast  the  blessed  hope  of  everlasting  life,  which  thou 
hast  given  us  in  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ."  Amen 


THE    END. 


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